Handling tricks with a wheel?

[MagicalArmchair]

I have sailed Triola (30 foot Albin Ballad, fin and skeg keel) with a tiller for the 13 years I had owned her before I purchased Mirage (40 foot Bavaria, bulb keeled) at the end of last year and launched her just before the world went mad in March (note, no sailing or boat handling done since I have owned her). I had intended to get a local training bod on board to school me in handling the boat (much as that wounded my pride - with Triola I bumped into stuff until I got the hang of it) so I could practise going in and out of various berths in various conditions. A few questions:

• Social distancing, presumably, gives me a good excuse not to get a trainer on board? Or can this kind of professional activity still go ahead with PPE?
• On Triola, with a tiller, I could handle her in any situation. I knew, going backwards, if I pointed the tiller to stbd, the bow would, eventually, go to stbd. This mind 'trick' revolutionised my handling of the boat, as daft as that seems. Are there any tricks you use when on the wheel of you boat that help you out? It feels very strange, especially when going astern! A bit like driving a car with the controls reversed...

I did maneuver Mirage her into her current berth after launching in a howling gale and managed to not crash into anything.

She has midships cleats, and I have some pretty awesome mooring devices to help single handed mooring, in much the way I did with Triola.

 

[Lucky Duck]

I remember the first time I sailed with a wheel which was on a test sail for a new Southerly 110 - for a short while the results weren't pretty as I corrected my course by turning even more in the wrong direction.

 

[[70521]]

Its just like driving a car, simples.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

I remember the first time I sailed with a wheel which was on a test sail for a new Southerly 110 - for a short while the results weren't pretty as I corrected my course by turning even more in the wrong direction.

Plenty of that when I was maneuvering her in aforementioned gale around some very expensive looking insurance claims . Again, I hasten to add, I missed them all.... just...

Thanks Sandy, so tip 1, think like driving a car.

 

[duncan99210]

As Sandy says, its like driving a car. Turn the wheel to the left, the boat goes left..... It really isn’t very difficult.
As to going astern, I stand in front of the wheel, facing the stern. The you just turn the wheel in the direction you want to go. And on your new boat, you’ll find that if you’re moving astern, the boat will do as the wheel tells it to.

 

[scottie]

A marker on the wheel that you can feel will help to identify mid helm
check How many turns from hardover to hardcover
you may also find a helm indicator on your auto helm if you have one
the height of the deck over pontoon is perhaps more significant than overall size if single handed
if its a sail drive it should help in reverse
you will soon get the hang of wheel steering but remember it’s not so easy to steer with your bum as a tiller

 

[Bobc]

You will find the Bavaria so predictable and easy to handle compared to your previous boat, that I doubt you'll have any issues.

Just think about the windage, as you have considerably more and that will always try to push the bow off.

 

[FlyingGoose]

Like driving a car yes but if you have a gale and a high windage vessel it can play havoc , also prop drift and keel can play an issue on how the boat turns, in my Marina you have to pass 2 walls and if you have a swell and wind coming in it pushes you through like a rocket, have stopped the engine once as I was going to fast eeeekkk

 

[Neeves]

We have 2 engines and manoeuvring is relatively easy - in fact I lock the wheel and turn with the engines. Windage and tide are the unpredicatable - if there is a tide try for the first few times to move when the tide is slack. If its blowing a gale - practise something else!

I'd use fenders rather than the insurance.

The biggest issue is the distance from the deck to the pontoon - its a big leap.

I'd have someone on the pontoon to let lines go and pick them up - then all your need to worry about is the manouvering. I have one long mooring line with an eye in the middle, the eye goes on the amidships cleat with one half forward to bow and the other half back to the stern. The lines run outside the stanchions. Once on the pontoon I can control the boat using the 2 lines. When I leave I arrange the mooring lines attached to the horn cleats on the yacht, round the cleats on the pontoon and back to the yacht and attached to the horn cleats again - I can then pull the lines free from the deck.

The rest - like driving a car (though confess I have never though of it as such!!). A mark to know where amidships is - invaluable (as stated)

Once you get the hang of it you will wonder why you worried

Jonathan

 

[ditchcrawler]

There are some things that you have to bear in mind.

Some systems have play in them especially the wire and chain systems which become slack. My own system has a straight rod called a draglink which is very
positive.

There seems often to be a slight delay in the movement of the boat and beginners often steer zig zag courses. Not you of course.

As others have said it is good to mark the centre of the wheel when the rudder is amidships. I have a fancy knot but tape will do. I also have my
wheel marked so that before it's maximum turn there is a mark so I know the rudder will not hit the stops.

You may find that a small amount of wheel turn gives more boat turn than you expect. I converted my own boat from tiller to a wheel and knew
exactly the amount of angle of the tiller to come into my pontoon berth. The first time I came in with the wheel I turned too much and had to go round
and try again.

 

[capnsensible]

Its just like driving a car, simples.

'cept the road moves and the wind blows you about.

I reckon the thing I see most with inexperienced and/or nervous boat handlers is standing right behind the wheel when manouvering. Once you show em how to keep one hand on the wheel and move around to get much better views, the quick improvement gives much more confidence.

 

[rotrax]

As Sandy says, its like driving a car. Turn the wheel to the left, the boat goes left..... It really isn’t very difficult.
As to going astern, I stand in front of the wheel, facing the stern. The you just turn the wheel in the direction you want to go. And on your new boat, you’ll find that if you’re moving astern, the boat will do as the wheel tells it to.

I have a long keeler. About 17 tons with full tanks and all the cruising gear. Fixed 22 inch prop. Motorsailer with lots of windage.

As to your going astern advice - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

First Mate is I/C steering. Her advice would be loads of fenders and pray.

Pray hard........................

 

[RJJ]

Hold tight when going astern. Because a wheel has so much gearing it's easy to lose track of the potential load, if you are doing a couple of knots astern and the water "catches" it or you enter a turn without care and attention.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Mark the wheel with something to indicate the rudder is at 12°CLOCK.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Thank you, some cracking advice here.

...
the height of the deck over pontoon is perhaps more significant than overall size if single handed
if its a sail drive it should help in reverse
you will soon get the hang of wheel steering but remember it’s not so easy to steer with your bum as a tiller
...

She has a saildrive, so hopefully this will help. I have a lassoing boat hook that I am a dab hand at using (I like to tell myself I am, my wife rolls her eyes when I get the thing out (primarily, I think, as she likes leaping off)) , meaning I should be able to get a midships line on without leaping off. Then I should be able to hold her in place with a tiny bit of ahead. Re bum steering, eating sandwiches will never be the same again! I could steer with bum, eat my full meal, no autopilot required! It'll take some getting used to.

Hold tight when going astern. Because a wheel has so much gearing it's easy to lose track of the potential load, if you are doing a couple of knots astern and the water "catches" it or you enter a turn without care and attention.

Early on, when I was in the same place learning to maneuver Triola, just after I bought her, I made this mistake and was pinned by the tiller to one side of the cockpit whilst she did pretty pirouettes in the marina - nice to put on a show for onlookers... Thanks for reminding me it applied to wheels as well as tillers!

'cept the road moves and the wind blows you about.

I reckon the thing I see most with inexperienced and/or nervous boat handlers is standing right behind the wheel when manouvering. Once you show em how to keep one hand on the wheel and move around to get much better views, the quick improvement gives much more confidence.

Her high topsides are a worry in wind, I must say. Her underwater profile too being completely different to what I am accustomed to (I presume being more, err, for want of a more flattering comparison, bathtub shaped, she will be more slippery on the water and thus the bow will blow off more easily than the Ballad?).

As Sandy says, its like driving a car. Turn the wheel to the left, the boat goes left..... It really isn’t very difficult.
As to going astern, I stand in front of the wheel, facing the stern. The you just turn the wheel in the direction you want to go. And on your new boat, you’ll find that if you’re moving astern, the boat will do as the wheel tells it to.

I'll give the standing the other side of the wheel a go and see if that feels more natural.

Thanks again. I'll avoid going the trainer route, and with the family bimble around the marina and go in and out of a berth many, many times 'till I feel comfortable... or crash into something... or both... (and yup, I have many, many, many fenders).

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

 

[RJJ]

Thank you, some cracking advice here.



She has a saildrive, so hopefully this will help. I have a lassoing boat hook that I am a dab hand at using (I like to tell myself I am, my wife rolls her eyes when I get the thing out (primarily, I think, as she likes leaping off)) , meaning I should be able to get a midships line on without leaping off. Then I should be able to hold her in place with a tiny bit of ahead. Re bum steering, eating sandwiches will never be the same again! I could steer with bum, eat my full meal, no autopilot required! It'll take some getting used to.



Early on, when I was in the same place learning to maneuver Triola, just after I bought her, I made this mistake and was pinned by the tiller to one side of the cockpit whilst she did pretty pirouettes in the marina - nice to put on a show for onlookers... Thanks for reminding me it applied to wheels as well as tillers!



Her high topsides are a worry in wind, I must say. Her underwater profile too being completely different to what I am accustomed to (I presume being more, err, for want of a more flattering comparison, bathtub shaped, she will be more slippery on the water and thus the bow will blow off more easily than the Ballad?).



I'll give the standing the other side of the wheel a go and see if that feels more natural.

Thanks again. I'll avoid going the trainer route, and with the family bimble around the marina and go in and out of a berth many, many times 'till I feel comfortable... or crash into something... or both... (and yup, I have many, many, many fenders).

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

It sounds as though you are competent enough to pick your moment and coach yourself. Each to their own though.

 

[Norman_E]

As Sandy says, its like driving a car. Turn the wheel to the left, the boat goes left..... It really isn’t very difficult.
As to going astern, I stand in front of the wheel, facing the stern. The you just turn the wheel in the direction you want to go. And on your new boat, you’ll find that if you’re moving astern, the boat will do as the wheel tells it to.

Another vote for standing in front of the wheel facing aft when going astern. If you try to do it the other way you are likely to turn the wheel the wrong way. Tie a nice turks head or woggle knot on the wheel to mark the top dead centre in the straight ahead position. The reason for the knot instead of tape or paint is that you can find it by touch without having to look at the wheel; it will also look very nice. When I made mine I used a small fid to tuck in the ends, but a smoothed and sharpened 3 inch nail will do.

One point. If the boat has a saildrive there will be a fair gap between prop and rudder which means that there is a delay between giving a burst of revs and the angled rudder kicking the stern around, but its a useful trick to master when manouvering the boat in a confined space, particularly if you don't have a bowthruster.

 

[scottie]

Tape marks allow you feel the mark but still allow you to let the wheel run through a light grip!

 

[ithet]

I find it easier to think of steering the "driving" end only, i.e. which end is in the direction we are going, rather than thinking of 'bows' or 'stern' swings. So I think of turning the wheel to port moves the bows to port going forwards and the stern to port in reverse (it might help some to stand the other side of wheel but I don't necessarily find this). Similarly for prop walk, I only think about the driven end which always turns in the same direction (i.e. starboard for a LH prop). It becomes second nature to sense that the other end will swing in the opposite direction (to me anyway).

 

[jdc]

My results aren't pretty (heavy-ish boat with long-is keel, no bow thruster) so I won't give handling advice!

But one extra variable which hasn't been mentioned is whether the prop is just in front of a rudder, or the rudder(s) is(are) in 'clean' water. The latter makes it much harder imho, roughly the same sort of extra difficulty as a jet versus a propellor aircraft, and for the same reason. With the rudder in the prop's immediate wash one gets instant turning moment on engaging reasonable revs ahead, even before the boat has started moving, whereas with the rudder in clean water one has to have started to move through the water first. This is exacerbated by weight, so the effect may not be too bad on a Bav which is probably less than 1/2 our weight (~14t) for the same LOA (42').

Edit: actually it was mentioned by NormanE in the time between me starting to reply and posting it!