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emergency tiller
- Thread starter chris
- Start date
Debby Andrews
I brought my boat a CM 38 not a 382 to Va. Beach Va from NY. My son would not sail with me on that trip without an emergancy tiller. I had to have one fabricated by a local machine shop. They used S/Steel pipe that extended from the stub at the floor position behind the wheel to a point that extended above the wheel. Then they fabracated a connecting handle that extended above and to the position of the wheel. The contraption is easy to get installed in a hurry and it was very pricy.
But I went for the "tiller" because you don't need something on a sailboat until you need it. I have the tiller stored below and have never used it. But it is there.
If you need more info contact me at my e-mail address
MorganSloop@aol.com
Truly
Capt Robert E
Evening Star
Morgan 38
I brought my boat a CM 38 not a 382 to Va. Beach Va from NY. My son would not sail with me on that trip without an emergancy tiller. I had to have one fabricated by a local machine shop. They used S/Steel pipe that extended from the stub at the floor position behind the wheel to a point that extended above the wheel. Then they fabracated a connecting handle that extended above and to the position of the wheel. The contraption is easy to get installed in a hurry and it was very pricy.
But I went for the "tiller" because you don't need something on a sailboat until you need it. I have the tiller stored below and have never used it. But it is there.
If you need more info contact me at my e-mail address
MorganSloop@aol.com
Truly
Capt Robert E
Evening Star
Morgan 38
Debbie,
My 382 (hull #223) came with an emergency tiller. I've fortunately never had to use it but it seems to be pretty well built from aluminum tubes with welded end fittings, etc. We live in Annapolis area and if you are close enough, I'd be happy to loan you mine long enough for you to have it duplicated by a welder! (or handy person!)
If you're not close by, perhaps someone else close to your location would do the same. Good luck,
Mick MacMullan
My 382 (hull #223) came with an emergency tiller. I've fortunately never had to use it but it seems to be pretty well built from aluminum tubes with welded end fittings, etc. We live in Annapolis area and if you are close enough, I'd be happy to loan you mine long enough for you to have it duplicated by a welder! (or handy person!)
If you're not close by, perhaps someone else close to your location would do the same. Good luck,
Mick MacMullan
<div>I have a 382 #046. My boat came with a large 2 piece SS down tube that affixes to the top of the rudder stock/post above the quadrant and a long SS pipe for the tiller bar.
I used a system in conjunction with a windvane. First, before setting off on my trans-At, I wanted to make sure the thing worked as a tiller in the first place, then as a tiller to windvane configuration. As a tiller, the system provided with the boat is not very dependable ie, you have to leave the captain's locker open to install and employ it, it's really tall and the poles are all loosely fitted. Think about that for a second...you're probably in rough seas that broke your primary steering in the first place, so leaving a cockpit locker open is not so smart, now you've got this loosely assembled thing flopping around - no go. Therefore, I put in a round 4" access panel in the captain seat. I will be installing an 8"because it's too tight. In order for this to work, you need to be able to put in the cotter pin through the rudder stock and the down-tube but you've got the pole going through the seat so it won't lift. I did it so that I can raise the seat just enough to squeeze my arm down there to put in the cotter pin. It works but it's too tight so I'm going to a larger port. Then, I took the top part of the down-tube, the part with the T welded at the top, to a machine shop and had them add an 8" SS "fitted" bored out pipe with the cotter pin holes at the right places. This creates a snug fit of the rudder stock to emergency tiller down-tube. I measured the down-tube to put the tiller at an appropriate height for the helmsman/vane gear. Then I made sure the tiller bar was going to fit and work. I first cut the pole I had down to a proper size as to not interfere with the steering wheel or coaming area and then drilled out some through-holes and added appropriate SS nuts and bolts for the quick assembly for a product that would hold up as good as a primary tiller. I highly recommend nylon nuts. Everything else came apart.Now that I had a proper down-tube, I installed the system with a proper wooden tiller through the T at the top. I epoxied the gaps for a snug fit and through bolted it. The T top to the down-tube was nothing more than a 3" dia. tube welded to the top. I had to "square" it off for the tiller, so I filled it with epoxy - to stop the square peg in a round hole deal. That worked very well. Messy mind you. Otherwise, every time you push-pull the tiller, the constant motion will wear out the hardware...remember that you're constantly moving the tiller as you do your wheel under way, so it needs to "fit".This gave me a proper tiller assy. I reversed it (ie faced it aft)and attached the chain assy from the Aries Windvane to the tiller. This worked for about 1800 miles until one of my crew decided to assist the steering by cranking down on the wheel because the windvane was slow to respond to a yaw in large seas. When she turned the wheel, the forces created were so great, it snapped the wooden tiller at the neck! Thank Neptune she didn't break the quadrant cables or whatever! Wonderful thing to be awaken to when you're off watch and barely into your sleep.I fabricated another tiller bar out of the SS tubing (this was literally right in the middle of the Atlantic between Bermuda and the Azores) which drove us the rest of the way to the Azores. Upon arrival to the Azores, I ordered and attached a proper wheel drum unit for the windvane which alleviated so much stress on the reversed tiller system I had set up. In theory, it was a good idea, but over time it failed because the point of pull on the tiller made the whole tiller assy lean instead of pivot properly.The bottom line is that the tiller supplied with the boat is not sufficient and would not work very well or for very long if it became necessary. I highly recommend taking your boats out and trying it before you make a passage. You'll find it's a pretty shakey system. My modification to the down-tube only cost $75 and I now now for sure that I can steer the boat comfortably with the tiller if need be. I'm glad I went to the trouble of doing this dual purpose system. It's one less thing I need not worry about should a situation arise at sea. I know I've addressed this major safety point. Many boats are abandoned due to breakage of the steering system. Don't be a statistic being towed in or god-forbid some salvage suit.
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I used a system in conjunction with a windvane. First, before setting off on my trans-At, I wanted to make sure the thing worked as a tiller in the first place, then as a tiller to windvane configuration. As a tiller, the system provided with the boat is not very dependable ie, you have to leave the captain's locker open to install and employ it, it's really tall and the poles are all loosely fitted. Think about that for a second...you're probably in rough seas that broke your primary steering in the first place, so leaving a cockpit locker open is not so smart, now you've got this loosely assembled thing flopping around - no go. Therefore, I put in a round 4" access panel in the captain seat. I will be installing an 8"because it's too tight. In order for this to work, you need to be able to put in the cotter pin through the rudder stock and the down-tube but you've got the pole going through the seat so it won't lift. I did it so that I can raise the seat just enough to squeeze my arm down there to put in the cotter pin. It works but it's too tight so I'm going to a larger port. Then, I took the top part of the down-tube, the part with the T welded at the top, to a machine shop and had them add an 8" SS "fitted" bored out pipe with the cotter pin holes at the right places. This creates a snug fit of the rudder stock to emergency tiller down-tube. I measured the down-tube to put the tiller at an appropriate height for the helmsman/vane gear. Then I made sure the tiller bar was going to fit and work. I first cut the pole I had down to a proper size as to not interfere with the steering wheel or coaming area and then drilled out some through-holes and added appropriate SS nuts and bolts for the quick assembly for a product that would hold up as good as a primary tiller. I highly recommend nylon nuts. Everything else came apart.Now that I had a proper down-tube, I installed the system with a proper wooden tiller through the T at the top. I epoxied the gaps for a snug fit and through bolted it. The T top to the down-tube was nothing more than a 3" dia. tube welded to the top. I had to "square" it off for the tiller, so I filled it with epoxy - to stop the square peg in a round hole deal. That worked very well. Messy mind you. Otherwise, every time you push-pull the tiller, the constant motion will wear out the hardware...remember that you're constantly moving the tiller as you do your wheel under way, so it needs to "fit".This gave me a proper tiller assy. I reversed it (ie faced it aft)and attached the chain assy from the Aries Windvane to the tiller. This worked for about 1800 miles until one of my crew decided to assist the steering by cranking down on the wheel because the windvane was slow to respond to a yaw in large seas. When she turned the wheel, the forces created were so great, it snapped the wooden tiller at the neck! Thank Neptune she didn't break the quadrant cables or whatever! Wonderful thing to be awaken to when you're off watch and barely into your sleep.I fabricated another tiller bar out of the SS tubing (this was literally right in the middle of the Atlantic between Bermuda and the Azores) which drove us the rest of the way to the Azores. Upon arrival to the Azores, I ordered and attached a proper wheel drum unit for the windvane which alleviated so much stress on the reversed tiller system I had set up. In theory, it was a good idea, but over time it failed because the point of pull on the tiller made the whole tiller assy lean instead of pivot properly.The bottom line is that the tiller supplied with the boat is not sufficient and would not work very well or for very long if it became necessary. I highly recommend taking your boats out and trying it before you make a passage. You'll find it's a pretty shakey system. My modification to the down-tube only cost $75 and I now now for sure that I can steer the boat comfortably with the tiller if need be. I'm glad I went to the trouble of doing this dual purpose system. It's one less thing I need not worry about should a situation arise at sea. I know I've addressed this major safety point. Many boats are abandoned due to breakage of the steering system. Don't be a statistic being towed in or god-forbid some salvage suit.
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<div>Dear Mike,I appreciate your offer and would like to take you up on it. We purchased the boat last fall and it will remain in Annapolis till Spring. We are hoping to travel down there soon to begin some repairs, perhaps I can e-mail you a week or two prior to our visit. My email address is HBAndrews@erols.comThank you again.Debbie
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