Emergency Tiller

Jac123

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Apr 19, 2019
48
Catalina 30 Forked River
I took off the plate that covers the emergency tiller port and found that the inside of the rudder shaft was plugged as shown on the photo below. I'm assuming I should remove this material but just wanted to check if any has ever seen this before?
Thanks
 

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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Never seen it. I'd go ahead and remove it. Maybe wear a hazmat suit? You should see a pin across the shaft that the emergency tiller would fit onto.
 
May 7, 2011
281
C - 30 # 3573 Lake NormanNC formerly Bflo NY
Does your ET fit inside or outside the rudder stock? (I have a mk-I so dunno.)
 

Jac123

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Apr 19, 2019
48
Catalina 30 Forked River
Tiller fits inside
It maybe some type of foam but didn't break up easily when I pried at it with screw driver. I'll have to get more aggressive with it.
Was just wondering if anyone had seen it before. Maybe the way it was shipped and PO never removed??
 

RitSim

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Jan 29, 2018
406
Beneteau 411 Branford
We had a C30 for ten years. I think a PO filled the rudder shaft to keep water out. Our rudder shaft was hollow and you could see water inside. Some owners drill and tap the outside bottom of the rudder to allow draining of the accumulated water for winter storage. Actually no water there is good. My emergency tiller fit inside the rudder post and engaged the 3/8" diameter cross bolt that passes thru the quadrant.
 
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May 7, 2011
281
C - 30 # 3573 Lake NormanNC formerly Bflo NY
Jac
No it’s not like that OEM, I’d suspect the PO filled it to prevent water intrusion (a typical problem) and maybe didn’t think about needing to engage the ET?

Rit
I suspect you have a radial wheel pull-pull cable drive, not a quadrant drive (to be precise.)

C’mon over and and also dial into the International Catalina 30 Association forum and get the collective wisdom of 1,600 experts (owners.)
https://groups.io/g/Catalina30
 
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Jan 9, 2021
3
Catalina 42 Mark II Anacortes, Wa
Any tips on getting that foam out would be great. I have the same situation. I am drilling and slowly turning it to dust, but hard to get the dust out and also hard to get drill in deep enough.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Might I ask, what does the end of the emergency tiller look like that you insert into the rudder stem.
It might give you some clues.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
Here ya go @jssailem

1610279515417.png


I have friends with a 95 C30 in California with the same issue. One of their projects is to remove the filler so they can use the E Tiller but they haven't started on it yet. In their photo you can't see the cross bolt but it is there. It holds the two halves of the radial wheel together as well as the wheel to the rudder post. No idea what the dowel looking pieces are.

1610279703348.jpeg
 
Jan 9, 2021
3
Catalina 42 Mark II Anacortes, Wa
Here are a few pics for reference. The first is of my stem. The second is the E-tiller.

Since taking the first shot I spent several hours with various tools (chisels, plyers, vacuums, hammers, Dremel, screwdrivers) and I have it down about half the depth it needs to be to properly fit the emergency tiller. In a true emergency it now has a chance of working, but I would like to get it deeper if I can. My tools are hitting length limits to get down in so far in such a narrow tube.

On a related note, I tried to slide the bolt out of the way but the larger cavity this is all in only allows the bolt about 3/4 of the way out. I suspect I would have to get under the deck and disconnect from the quadrant or the rudder itself to pull everything up on deck in order to remove the bolt. That's not a project I'm willing to do at the moment.
 

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Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
The construction looks to me that a builder did not want water to come up the tube. So they just filled the tube with foam or what ever the material is. No one considered the need for using an "emergency" tiller.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
The construction looks to me that a builder did not want water to come up the tube. So they just filled the tube with foam or what ever the material is. No one considered the need for using an "emergency" tiller.
Ditto
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
That is not a builder thing. They are built with an open hollow rudder shaft but some owners have thought it a good thing to fill, not realizing that it make the E-tiller unusable. :facepalm:
 
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Jan 9, 2021
3
Catalina 42 Mark II Anacortes, Wa
Good to know it wasn't original. How deep does it normally go? All the way down to the rudder, or just to some intermediate part? It could be that the foam was sprayed in and expanded for more than anticipated. If I take 4 inches off a tube that is 2 feet long.. still plenty of foam in there (although it might become a water trap and start rusting, in which case I could perhaps find a way to drill a small drain hole... maybe).