A Catalina30 friend of mine from So Ca called me the other day regarding the thread on steering with sails. He told me if he lost his steering he’d just start the engine. I asked him what good would that do? SILENCE!! Sometimes we get an idea in our sailing heads and that’s as far as we go.
I asked him what he’d do if the steering cable jumped off the sprocket. He said he’d FIND his emergency tiller but he was not sure where he stored it. I asked him if he had ever installed it to see if it fits? Nope, was the answer. I asked him if he had ever removed his steering wheel? Same answer, nope. He asked me why it would be necessary to remove the steering wheel to install an emergency tiller. The answer is because the emergency tiller is a long one on a C30 and the end of it hits the wheel. He carries very little in the way of tools and I suggested he buy a wrench to fit the wheel hub nut. He relies too much on a towing service.
Picture my friend half way to Catalina Island, in the middle of the northbound and southbound shipping lanes (the massive cargo ships pop up over the horizon and the next thing you know they are on top of you) and the steering cable jumps off the sprocket and based on the info I developed in our short conversation, he’d be running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Add in the factor that it’s blowing like stink.
All of this could be avoided had he taken a few minutes to practice within the safety of his dock. Secondly, the boats we own are called SAIL BOATS. The sails are the primary source of power and your engine is your back up. That’s the advantage we have over power boats. My friend could have sailed out of the shipping lanes if only he knew how to STEER WITH HIS SAILS.
I asked him what he’d do if the steering cable jumped off the sprocket. He said he’d FIND his emergency tiller but he was not sure where he stored it. I asked him if he had ever installed it to see if it fits? Nope, was the answer. I asked him if he had ever removed his steering wheel? Same answer, nope. He asked me why it would be necessary to remove the steering wheel to install an emergency tiller. The answer is because the emergency tiller is a long one on a C30 and the end of it hits the wheel. He carries very little in the way of tools and I suggested he buy a wrench to fit the wheel hub nut. He relies too much on a towing service.
Picture my friend half way to Catalina Island, in the middle of the northbound and southbound shipping lanes (the massive cargo ships pop up over the horizon and the next thing you know they are on top of you) and the steering cable jumps off the sprocket and based on the info I developed in our short conversation, he’d be running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Add in the factor that it’s blowing like stink.
All of this could be avoided had he taken a few minutes to practice within the safety of his dock. Secondly, the boats we own are called SAIL BOATS. The sails are the primary source of power and your engine is your back up. That’s the advantage we have over power boats. My friend could have sailed out of the shipping lanes if only he knew how to STEER WITH HIS SAILS.
