My wife and I have sailed with a tiller for years and are considering a conversion on a 1985 Cat27, can anyone relate experiences with this project. I'll probably have someone do it, so cost info and type of hardware recommendations would be appreciated. Also, I've got big shoulders, so let me have it if you think it's silly. I'm thinking it might make things easier on the helms woman.
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It's not worth it
spend the money on new sails or a new rib and motor. She just needs more experience to appreciate the advantages of a tiller. Why not let her be the primary driver for a while until she gets thoroughly comfortable with the tiller. That would include docking and mooring. In my opinion the wheel is unnecessary for your size boat. It takes up a lot of room in the cockpit, the autopilots are way more expensive than tiller models, you can't tuck in behind the dodger when you're at the wheel, single handing is easier with a tiller because you can steer with your knees and use your hands to trim. Most importantly, only a small wheel will fit in the cockpit without modification ($) and they simply don't look as cool as the big destroyer type wheels. That's just my opinion anyway. It's not worth the $3,000-$5,000
spend the money on new sails or a new rib and motor. She just needs more experience to appreciate the advantages of a tiller. Why not let her be the primary driver for a while until she gets thoroughly comfortable with the tiller. That would include docking and mooring. In my opinion the wheel is unnecessary for your size boat. It takes up a lot of room in the cockpit, the autopilots are way more expensive than tiller models, you can't tuck in behind the dodger when you're at the wheel, single handing is easier with a tiller because you can steer with your knees and use your hands to trim. Most importantly, only a small wheel will fit in the cockpit without modification ($) and they simply don't look as cool as the big destroyer type wheels. That's just my opinion anyway. It's not worth the $3,000-$5,000
Tiller to wheel
I recently sold a tiller steered 1978 Catalina 30 which I owned for fifteen years. The best investment I made during that time was one of the first, a Navico Tiller Pilot. The company has since been taken over by Simrad. I recently replaced the original for less than $400 and that included a remote that will let you sun yourself on the foredeck and watch the world go by. Freeing yourself, and your wife, from the drudgery of long stretches of steering, either tiller or wheel, is the key to success. I believe that a tiller made my C30 much more agile and far easier to control. Backing was a snap. I just stood in front of the tiller, facing aft, and made that stern go wherever I wanted it to. Buy a tiller pilot and use what you save to do something else.
I recently sold a tiller steered 1978 Catalina 30 which I owned for fifteen years. The best investment I made during that time was one of the first, a Navico Tiller Pilot. The company has since been taken over by Simrad. I recently replaced the original for less than $400 and that included a remote that will let you sun yourself on the foredeck and watch the world go by. Freeing yourself, and your wife, from the drudgery of long stretches of steering, either tiller or wheel, is the key to success. I believe that a tiller made my C30 much more agile and far easier to control. Backing was a snap. I just stood in front of the tiller, facing aft, and made that stern go wherever I wanted it to. Buy a tiller pilot and use what you save to do something else.
an old discussion
i've had the same question and finally decided against it. too much $$$, too much work, not enough payback for the effort. however, read the discussion that i found a while back. see the link, below.
i've had the same question and finally decided against it. too much $$$, too much work, not enough payback for the effort. however, read the discussion that i found a while back. see the link, below.
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