Kukri
Well-known member
I have a Whitlock Mamba. I really do not fancy disconnecting it at sea. Would involve much crawling in confined space holding tools whilst it tries to brain you.
Oyster 39 (?) rescued 520 miles off Bermuda - steering failure
- Thread starter Bajansailor
- Start date
Fr J Hackett
Well-known member
My last boat had the same it wouldn't have been impossible, a little difficult as it would have required emptying a cockpit locker lying inside it removing an inspection cover and then undoing one large nut and dropping the rose jointed tie rod from the auto pilot motor at the base of the pedestal. I have little doubt that it would be manageable if needs required. The boat also had a Hydrovane and a monstrous arrangement of an emergency tiller that weighed about 30Kg and dropped onto the top of the rudder shaft after removing a cover plate which would have left a 6" hole on the cockpit sole. It also required removing the wheel to operate as it fouled the tiller.
DownWest
Well-known member
I have a memory of feeding myself down a quarter berth, unscrewing a small hatch and feeling around to see if the slight slack in the linkage was important. Then beeing hauled out by my ankles. This was in port, I don't fancy doing it under way. In this case, the stock was roughly under the pedistal, so had an idler crank, with two links. Auto helm was on the wheel, later an Airies, so the linkage mattered
I like Frank's set up.
I like Frank's set up.
geem
Well-known member
My set up is Whitlock shaft drive. Disconnecting the drag link is easy. The gearbox is under the aft bunk. Lift the mattress, full size access panel and lots of access. I have just had the gearbox out and stripped it to check it for wear. There is 10 thou wear in the plate and bearings are perfect. Just need to refit. I am fortunate that the whole steering system is easily accessible. The pedestal is located over the engine room and we have excellent walk-in access. The autopilot is a rotary drive sat on a bench behind work bench. All very visible and easy to work on. I can swap drives at sea in about 15 mins. The only difficult and dodgy bit is getting the chain drive off whilst you are sailing without losing a finger?