Emergancy Tiller

[Don Guillette]

I was cruising around on one of my favorite sites -- Hunter - and a shipmate there was commenting on the problem he had using his emergancy tiller. Most folks think the lose of steering won't happen to them so they don't prepare. On older Catalina30's and maybe newer ones this can be a big problem.

One day my dock neighbor saw me removing the wheel and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was lubing the hub in the event I needed to remove the wheel if I needed to deploy the emergancy tiller. On a C30 you have to remove the wheel to install the emergancy tiller even though the tiller is very short. Since I had my tools out, I offered to lube his hub. He declined and indicated he'd never have the need to deploy the tiller --- and for a for a long time he didn't. He told me he wasn't even sure where he stored the tiller. I explained the hub can be difficult to remove the first time.

Just like the Hunter sailor, my neighbor was on his way home from Catalina Island and something snapped. The wheel is just spinning around. He didn't tell me the following but another dock neighbor told me. He had trouble locating the emergancy tiller and didn't have a wrench to fit the hub. What a nice mess to be in.

The lesson to be learned is to plan on arriving early one day to your boat and spend a few minutes installing the emergancy tiller. Additonally, spend a few minutes motoring and steering with your tiller to see how easy it isn't.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Don's right. Our wheel was one of the very first things I "removed" when we bought our then-12 year old boat in 1998. It came off relatively easily, so I greased it up and replaced it, and then tried the "emergency" tiller. "Emergency" is the right word, a real "bear" to operate. But it is "doable" at lower speeds. I really feel for the poster on that Hunter topic who had to motor three hours (!!!) with one - guessing that for those hours he was trying to run at normal cruising speed.

A few years later, I got a call from a friend with my same boat, a year or two newer, but essentially the same age (by then). "How do you get the wheel off?," he asked. He ended up having to get two wheel pullers, 'cuz the first smaller one wouldn't do the job!

At the very least, make sure you CAN get your wheel off, first. Some boats do not need to have the wheel removed to operate the emergency tiller, but it still a good thing to know will be able to work.

 

[Don Guillette]

Let's kick this up a notch. Suppose you lost your steering but you managed to attach your emergancy tiller and could now center and secure your rudder. You've got the boat under control and can now look at your options. There are a couple of options open to you. One option would be to call a tow company. Another would be to start the engine and motor somewhere.

There's a 3rd thing you could do if you knew how all the sail trim controls for the main and jib functioned -- a mate could steer with their sails!!

How would a mate steer with their sails??

 

[Lee Coller]

I've actually practiced this (though didn't use it the other day - I was the one who lost my steering). With properly balanced sails the forces pushing each way on the keel are equal, and the boat will sail straight. Sheeting the Jib in puts more force on the bow, causing the boat to turn down-wind. letting the jib out will cause the boat to turn into the wind.

The one catch is that on my fractional rig the main will always overpower the jib. To adjust for this in lighter winds I can adjust the rudder using the tiller to turn slightly off the wind. In heavier winds I would actually need to reef the main to regain control.

 

[Nodak7]

I've actually practiced this (though didn't use it the other day - I was the one who lost my steering). With properly balanced sails the forces pushing each way on the keel are equal, and the boat will sail straight. Sheeting the Jib in puts more force on the bow, causing the boat to turn down-wind. letting the jib out will cause the boat to turn into the wind.

The one catch is that on my fractional rig the main will always overpower the jib. To adjust for this in lighter winds I can adjust the rudder using the tiller to turn slightly off the wind. In heavier winds I would actually need to reef the main to regain control.

Lee, my condolences for losing your steering but I think I am about to learn something here at your expense. How much jib will you have to release to get the boat to turn up wind? Do you mean to the point of luffing? This is something I have to try next season!

If your tiller is "stuck" over is there enough power in the sails to overcome it?

 

[Don Guillette]

Lee: How did you find out we were talking about you over here on the sail trim forum!!! I was going to email you and tell you I hijacked your post.

On a fractional rig, the engine is the mainsail and that complicates things a bit.

 

[Don Guillette]

Nodak7: I think if any boats rudder is stuck "hard over" they've got problems trying to steer with their sails. It's much easier to steer with the sails if the rudder is centered. I don't know how the boat could even be towed. Maybe the only way would be a side by side setup.

 

[finding41]

Don If the rudder is centered wouldn't it swing back and forth with the wave action on the boat? Or does it just stop and not move. I think it would be tough if it kept moving back and forth...effectively canceling its self out..? I guess if it was hard over one way it would just be a matter of finding the sweet spot and going from there with sail trim.
Good question.

 

[Don Guillette]

finding41: You'd have to secure it some way to keep it centered by being inventive. All boats are different so a mate, the next time he's at his boat, should pop a "tinny" and sit in the cockpit and figure out how he would do it. Trying to figure it out after the emergancy is not the best plan. If your boat is out of the water now just picture your cockpit and figure out how you secure the tiller.

I used to "pop a tinny" to help me deal with any boat problem I was confronted with. Some of my best "mods" came to me that way. All boat owners should try my problem solving method. Sometimes I had to pop a couple of "tinnies".

 

[Stu Jackson]

Steering with Sails

Going upwind, centering the rudder will not work, since you always will/should have a little bit of weather helm. So, instead of centering the emergency tiller, get the boat sailing "in the groove" which will have the tiller a tad to the upwind side.

Pretty much the same for a broad to beam reach.

Doing downwind centering would work.

Sail-steering is pretty easy: just balance the rig and let out one sail or the other to turn the boat. With masthead rigged boats the jib will be the driver. On fractionally rigged boats (of any brand) reefing the main would help a lot.

And, as I mentioned before, going slower is pretty well necessary to allow reasonable control of the boat with the emergency tiller.

Like Docking, practice, practice, practice. It's fun and you're on the boat sailing, right?

 

[Benny17441]

Steering by sail trim would be adequate if you are offshore and just need to approach any land but if you are sailing coastal and just need to go in certain direction to approach a specific area the chances of conditions being favorable are slim. The emergency tiller can indeed help with the approach but never discount what would be my favored option to call Towboat US as soon as I get within range of my final destination.

 

[wufibugs]

I have never seen an emergency tiller for sale for my boat. Fortunately, the Hunter mods section has plans for one. In light of this post, may move that project up on the list.

 

[Nodak7]

I have never seen an emergency tiller for sale for my boat. Fortunately, the Hunter mods section has plans for one. In light of this post, may move that project up on the list.

Wufi, Really!!!?? I thought they were "required" safety equipment and sold standard for all Hunters.

 

[Don Guillette]

wufubugs: You've presented an interesting scenario and you're probably not alone -- I'll bet a lot of sailors HAVE an emergancy tiller but don't know where it is or have never tried it. Sort of like my dock neighbor. I'll bet some don't even have an emergancy tiller.

Suppose your sailing close hauled in 8 knots of wind and you lost your steering and you don't have a emergancy tiller --- what would be the first one or two things you'd do to get your boat under control? For mates following this, if that actually happened you'd have about 5 seconds to figure it out. Scarry isn't it!!!

 

[wufibugs]

No, Don, I've looked high and low. If they were supplied with the 87, I suspect after years of never needing one, a lot of POs transferred them from the locker to the garage. I had thought about it seriouisly when a dockmate of the PO told me she had lost engine power in no wind conditions and had used the wheel to wag the rudder like the oar on a gondola for quite some distance to get back to her slip. When I saw the post about the construction shortcomings of the Hunter rudders I thought an emergency tiller would be a good idea [though it obviously won't solve the problem of a detached rudder].
I have followed this thread with interest. This will sound a bit strange, but when I sort of zone into practicing the sailing tips in your book, I find myself almost unconsciously "feeling" and steering Windmistress with the sheets and less with the wheel. I get a feeling similar to controlling or communicating with a good horse though hips and thighs rather than just tugging the reins. Must be where the zen of novice horsemanship crosses paths with greenhorn sailing.

 

[wufibugs]

No such thing in the Westmarine catalogue. Google search brought up no aftermarket manufacturer. Not one advertised on ebay.

 

[Don Guillette]

wufibugs: Set up a topic on the Hunter site and see if your brother Hunter owners have a solution of replacing the missing emergancy tiller. I'll bet they do

 

[Don Guillette]

Another thought -- I'll bet a mate could make a tiller.

 

[wufibugs]

Don, as you intuited and I suggested earlier, our own Steve Dion is, as usual, way ahead of the curve.

http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...7&cat_id=25&aid=6827&page=article&mn=31_83-87

 

[Lee Coller]

What if I don't have an Emergency Tiller

Suppose your sailing close hauled in 8 knots of wind and you lost your steering and you don't have a emergancy tiller --- what would be the first one or two things you'd do to get your boat under control? For mates following this, if that actually happened you'd have about 5 seconds to figure it out. Scarry isn't it!!!

Since no one else has taken a shot at this I'll answer it. Since my auto-pilot connects directly to the rudder, I press the 'auto' button on my auto pilot.

Of course, that's not the answer Don is looking for. In an 8 knot wind my boat's going to be doing around 5 knots, Letting out the main enough so that it doesn't round up into the wind should allow me to maintain control. If I'm shallow enough that I can anchor, I'll drop anchor and then figure out what I need to do to fix it (or call vessel assist). Of course, these are pretty benign conditions.

Even with an emergency tiller I probably want to do about the same thing, It would take me at least 15 seconds to deploy the tiller.

Looking back in hindsight my steering could have failed in a much worse circumstance, about a month ago when I was rounding the west end of Santa Cruz Island with a reefed main (no Jib), at 20-25 Knots of wind on my stern and confused seas (the "Potato Patch" for those familiar with the area). I am running the engine, but I'm not using the auto-pilot because it can't respond quickly enough to the 6-8 foot swells at irregular intervals and direction. Had the steering gone out then I don't know if I could have recovered control of the boat.