Twin wheel trouble

RichardS said:
Our wheel jammed a couple of years ago but quickly inspection showed that it was one rudder stock which was seized. The simple solution was to loosen the clamp on the stock so that turning the wheel only operated one rudder which was sufficient to get us back to our marina for a haul out and proper fix.

It's sometimes an advantage to have two of everything.

Richard
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dont you lube your stock ???
 
Any steering system can suffer failures, but twin wheels do add some interesting failure modes - including stupidity. We were moored up a few weeks ago and a combination of wind and tide produced a strong current coming in off the bows and rather unstable. This resulted in the rudder oscillating and the wheels swinging quite rapidly from one side to the other. It was noisy and I didn't fancy the unnecessary wear on the steering gear, so I locked it with the centre nut on one of the wheels. Then went to bed and completely forgot about it. When we tried to move the boat a few days later, I steered from the other wheel and had a brief moment of panic before I remembered what I had done earlier in the week.
 
sailorman said:
Or in our case, a sole board pre drilled by the Builders, for such an event
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Have you had a chance to test this yet? I currently can't see how I could get any leverage or a suitable hinge alternative for anything as long as a spinnaker pole. Even with the wheel removed the binnacle and table would get in the way. As for getting the right weight on the pole to keep the board down the mind boggles. It is one are where I can't yet see a realistic solution even motoring in super calm weather.
 
Or emergency tillers breaking?
I've had two real steering failures, 1st was a Sweden 38, a day out of the Canaries heading for Barbados. Kite up and breezy the casting that takes the pulley wheel for the wire cable broke. We tried the emergency tiller, a stainless tube thing that bolted onto the top of the sqaure rudder stock, it last about an hour then the welded flanges bent. By then we'd seen what was broken so used the autohelm (acting on the quadrant) to drive back up wind for 2 days to canaries for repairs.

Second time was a twin wheeled fast 40, one wheel failed whilst racing resulting in a rapid broach and chaos close to other boats, but we had the other wheel which was still connected. That was cable where clamp had slipped s cable was loose on one wheel.

Sails down, anchor ready and engine on and then check to see if you have any way of steering still. Sounds like text book response.
 
On a couple of occasions I have had a minor panic when I could not turn my "single" wheel. Turns out the autopilot had been accidentally engaged. So always to good to check if the wheel suddenly fixed

TudorSailor
 
capnsensible said:
First aid, take way off, either engine to neutral or sails down. Get anchor in water immediately on a lot of chain. All this buys you time. It works.
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That's kind of my default plan for any major problem, but I've never chucked an anchor down in a big sea, is it still safe or will it tear the fittings apart?
 
tudorsailor said:
On a couple of occasions I have had a minor panic when I could not turn my "single" wheel. Turns out the autopilot had been accidentally engaged. So always to good to check if the wheel suddenly fixed

TudorSailor
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Same with us. Quite a few times on different boats and usually when there's lots happening and someone's knee accidentally hits the autopilot panel.
 
I had something similar happen in my Mini (circa 1980) and I nearly ended up in a ditch.

I subsequently found that the cable I had put under the carpet for the newly installed heated rear window was catching on the pinch bolt at the foot of the steering column. One way and the cable would tighten up and jamb, the other way unwound it.
 
I'm on a twin wheel Jenneau 45 at the moment, running downwind in a F5 under headsail. Off the Maspalamos sand dunes south Gran Canaria.

As you do......:cool:
 
davidej said:
I had something similar happen in my Mini (circa 1980) and I nearly ended up in a ditch.

I subsequently found that the cable I had put under the carpet for the newly installed heated rear window was catching on the pinch bolt at the foot of the steering column. One way and the cable would tighten up and jamb, the other way unwound it.
Click to expand...

When I was an apprentice there was a fender bender outside the garage where I worked. A Ford Consul had ran into a Rover which was stopped at the red light by the crossroad.

The Consul was pushed into our workshop-a matter of yards-where we replaced the radiator, a headlamp and some chrome trim.

The owner asked us to check the brakes, which we did and found no fault. He was adamant the brakes failed and thus caused the crunch.

He came in the next day and told us he had sussed it.

The kids tortoise had been put in the car by said kids and had got into the nice warm place on the forward bulkhead behind the engine.

And right under the brake pedal-you could see the mark on its shell...................................
 
It has happened to me four times. Once a cable jumped off a sheave to the quadrant on a rental. Dropped sails and drifted until I traced the problem, lifted the cable back and tightened it up. Second time on my boat this time, a log jammed the rudder. I steered with the bow thruster and engine away from danger, anchor down to sort of hold position from drifting down river into boats and rocks and things, whilst we tried the emergency tiller without success. A crew member finally dived to see the problem and pull it out. Third time a quadrant link bolt snapped at the final link. Furled sails and drifted luckily in benign conditions until it was diagnosed. The emergency tiller was used for a day to manoeuvre to port. That was really tiring. We also made a link repair the connection with an Allen key and hose clips to hold it in position for onwards travel under autopilot. The fourth time a twin helm steering link rod fell out of a gearbox on one side and jammed all steering. A really fiddly dissasemble was needed including opening up a gearbox and removing a second and I drifted, luckily far from land in benign conditions for the three or four hours it took to disassemble the jammed parts.

This is what happens isn’t it? Boats break all the chuffing time.
 
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