Storing Hydrovane rudder?

[davethedog]

Hi all,

Just after some ideas of storing the Hydrovane rudder when not in use, what have other people done such as made up a system on the guardrails etc? The vane is easy enough, down below behind a door but the rudder is quite a bit heavier and more cumbersome.

So any ideas?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

For mine it went in a bag in a cockpit locker. There was an article in PBO many years ago of someone that made a hinged coupling I had my doubts about whether it would stand up to the torque loads though so I stuck with keeping it in the cockpit locker.

 

[davethedog]

Unfortunately the aft deck lockers we have are not the ideal shape to store it in a locker!

 

[capnsensible]

Unfortunately the aft deck lockers we have are not the ideal shape to store it in a locker!

Hiya. We made a bag for ours and used strong velcro straps to hang it from the guardwires inboard of the dodger. Worked a treat but we lived aboard. So not likely to get nicked.

 

[Kelpie]

In situations where we were using it frequently, I would just keep it on the transom, where it wedged between the Hydrovane's mounting brackets. Two good quality securing lines just in case, but it never moved. I found this a handy temporary location especially if I had allowed it to get any growth on it.

For longer term storage, it goes in amongst all the other junk in the forward heads shower stall.

 

[PTB]

Not sure what transom or hydrovane mounts you have, but like Kelpie we keep it wedged between the mounting brackets. Handy yet out of the way. On our previous boat it rested on deck lashed to a stanchion