Clamping the steering wheel when moored?

[Searush]

I guess you never use trot moorings on a tidal river then.

Our home mooring is part of a trot and you have to moor into the current. If the river is flooding when you get back to the mooring, you end up with the full force of the ebb on the rudder when the tide turns. The forces can be quite high.

Fortunately we have a good wheel brake/lock.

FWIW I would never leave a wheel or tiller 'unsecured' whether it was a swinging mooring or trot or alongside berth.

Well, yes, I was on a tidal river trot for several years, but the tide was not really able to overcome the river current. :encouragement:

It's all about the circumstances & the individual boat. A tiller controlled rudder with swing easily, but mine is cable operated thro the wheel & has a fair amount of friction in it, you can turn the wheel by moving the rudder, but there is a fair amount of resistance. It also has the advantage that I can often leave the wheel if the sails are balanced to go & do foredeck work or put the kettle on.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I have two jack stays on U bolts on each side of the cockpit well. If I didn't have a wheel lock I would tie the wheel spokes to one U bolt on each side. You could also consider a large U shaped device that fits through the wheel, each side of the spokes, or spoke, which then passes each side of the binnacle with a clamping arrangement across the open end of the U to make it a snug fit. Or perhaps a couple of struts, one each side of the wheel that clamp to the wheel or spokes and drop down into the cockpit sole/side edge. The position of the clamps could be adjusted to give a firm grip. Food for thought.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

If you have a pair of rudder stops the simplest solution might be a couple of chocks that just drop in between the stop and lever/quadrant buffers (not sure if a quadrant butts up against stops).

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

I have a wooden binnacle to which I have hinged a drop down flap with a slot in it the width of a wheel spoke. When released it drops back into the wheel and locks the helm solid by jamming a spoke

Could you do something similar on your binnacle?

 

[Fergus]

Definitely need to find a way to lock the steering!

 

[prv]

I have a wooden binnacle to which I have hinged a drop down flap with a slot in it the width of a wheel spoke. When released it drops back into the wheel and locks the helm solid by jamming a spoke

Clever!

I think I'm going to use this principle, though the material might be something other than wood.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[nimbusgb]

Clever!

I think I'm going to use this principle, though the material might be something other than wood.

Thanks,

Pete

Make sure the flap has a catch as you just know that it will flop over and lock the wheel at the most inappropriate time.

I open my lazarette and drop a piece of ply with some blocks onto the steering quadrant that locks it up.

Could also do something with the emergency tiller system I suppose. A piece of ali with a square cut out that locks the stock.

 

[alan_d]

I think you would be well advised to avoid anything that cannot instantly be released from the helm position. You or someone else will almost certainly one day forget to release it before casting off.

 

[prv]

I think you would be well advised to avoid anything that cannot instantly be released from the helm position. You or someone else will almost certainly one day forget to release it before casting off.

Heh, very true. I wasn't going to go with the quadrant-blocking approach anyway, because it would involve clambering into the aft cabin and dismantling the bunk, but that's another excellent reason not to use it. I did once manage to cast off in Kindred Spirit with the tiller still lashed, and that's visible and obvious (and fortunately very quick to undo!).

No, I think I'm going to go with Euan's idea of a drop-down flap on the aft face of the binnacle. It will be made of nylon or some similar engineering plastic, triangular, with the base sitting flat against the binnacle and the point notched to hold a spoke of the wheel. It will hinge upwards to sit flush against the binnacle while sailing, with some kind of catch to hold it in that position. If I shape the edges either side of the notch properly, it can probably be made to be self-acting in catching a spoke - ie, you release the catch, it drops down, then as you turn the wheel it lifts slightly as the spoke comes past and then drops into the lock position around it.

My original plan had been a kind of long-legged U-bolt that would slide horizontally into the face of the binnacle (possibly with a block of wood bridging some of the gap) but the flap idea is much less fiddly to use.

Pete