Slack in Wheel Steering Cable

[anjinsan]

Hope I have the right place for this question. I have about 6 inches of play in the wheel...makes it hard to compensate in rough seas. (as if we have rough seas in California) I see where cables come together on a pulley in the aft lazerette. Before I tear in and loosen anything, does anyone have any suggestions? If I loosen one of the cable nuts..will it snap and go someplace? Is this something a novice should even attempt? I sailed for over 30 years with a tiller and spade rudder. This is new to me and don't want to screw it up and make it worse. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated.

[DeepFrz]

Start at one end of your steering system and check each and every component. The slack could be in any one component or it could be in a combination of components. Its not rocket science, so you should be able to handle it, even if you are a rocket scientist. Take lots of pictures so you have a record of how everything goes back together. The steering system is not something you ever want to lose while at sea.

[anjinsan]

Thanks for the quick response..good idea about photographing...I do have a back up tiller mount..and a 2 foot tiller..but don't want to have to steer far with a small tiller...I'm going to have at it tomorrow...Thanks again

[donradcliffe]

Typically, either the ends of the cable have threaded studs, with locking nuts, or there is a turnbuckle in the system to tighten things up. Its not hard to take the slack out, but as posted before, you should make a close inspection to see if you can figure out why the cable went slack.

If its a Catalina 30, you might get more specific recommendations on the c30 owners group Catalina30 : Catalina 30 Owners Online List