Practice with Emergency Tiller???

[SeaBreeze78]

(From my own New owner of Catalina 350 Manual pdf.)

For those of you who have never put the emergency tiller in place and those who have not done it since you bought the boat.

Emergency Tiller:
The Catalina Owners Manual (pg. 58) has very minimal instructions about how to use the Emergency Tiller (ET). They do suggest doing a dry run and those (Capt. and crew) who normally sail the boat know how it works.

Locate the emergency tiller. Probably in a red canvas bag in the bottom of the lazaret.
Remove the wheel, this also takes the steering lock off. Keeping a wrench handy for this purpose.
Remove the 6” cover over the rudder post, behind the wheel. Takes a special tool. I tie mine to the ET shaft.
Insert the shaft (large pipe) with the two slots cut in it. Over the 3/8” bolt at the top of the rudder post.
Remove the split ring and the clevis pin from the actually emergency tiller that comes in the red bag.
Stick the short bent end of the emergency tiller from the bow towards the stern, through the two holes in the ET shaft.
Replace the clevis pin and the split ring into the emergency tiller.
Note: The emergency steering tiller moves the whole steering, including cables and quadrant.
These elements must be free to move, in order to steer the boat.

The 6” plate has an “O-ring” and is threaded. Periodically check that the plate is freely removable. The “O-ring” is in good condition and that the compartment below it is dry. Water has a habit of collecting in it. I used a stiff brass wire brush to clean the threads both on the plate and on the base attached to the deck. Re lube the “O-ring”. Beware when working inside the compartment, because the 6 screws securing the base down extend below the deck and are very sharp.

After looking at my emergency tiller, I decided to clean up the steel post and paint it with rust-oleum.

Photos to follow......

[SeaBreeze78]

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[Olivia Mae]

Good suggestion to tie the special tool for the cover plate to something. The first time I tried to take that cover off, it was very tight. The tool got loose and nearly went off the back of the boat.

[wolfe10]

Plumber's silicone grease (any box store) on the threads and O ring of the emergency tiller plate will keep it much more serviceable. But because sand, etc collects there, a good idea to remove and clean it as part of the annual inspection.

[TBOT422]

Interesting that this topic came up as I was planning on 'practicing' this process this spring in preparation for a cruise down the west coast of FL. It appears to me that the emergency tiller would only be useful in the case of a steering cable failure. Any other type of steering failure would not likely be helped via the emergency tiller. Additionally, I believe that most of our boats have a below-deck auto-pilot which drives the rudder via hydraulic actuators attached directly to the rudder post which would be the first backup plan for a broken steering cable. Of course the autopilot could also fail or you could experience a complete loss of electrical power in which case the emergency tiller would be of great value. So I still plan to hook it up just in case, but I doubt (hope) that it will never be pulled out of the storage locker again.

This was just one part of my planning this spring to identify a backup plan for all systems on the boat. So far the only 'system' that I have not identified a simple backup plan has been the Raritan SeaEra

[Captain Kirk]

I'm planning to practice using this emerg tiller. Before I leave to go the boat next week, does anybody know if the special tool used to remove the SS cover comes with tiller kit? Maybe inside the red bag?

I did look into the red bag briefly a couple of years ago but did not look specifically for that tool.

Alternately, if I don't find one on-board, is it only available from Catalina? I didn't find it on Catalina Direct.

[SeaBreeze78]

Kirk:

These are easily found on Amazon around $25. Goggle: Deck plate Spanner.

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