Locking the Rudder While Moored

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Sailor g

Our slip is on a channel with lots of boats going by hitting us with their wake. We use a bungee on each side of the wheel to to keep it to center and yet it allows movement when we get smacked.

Why does it need to move? Being locked in place wont hurt it. Says me who also uses bungie, but just questioned my own use of it.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

Why does it need to move? Being locked in place wont hurt it. Says me who also uses bungie, but just questioned my own use of it.

I have no proof to using bungees- I do it because I think the sideways hits by wakes would be strong enough to do damage. The rudder is good for pressure but the big hits could jam it sideways anyway. With the bungees it allows the wakes to go by it instead of hitting rudder head on. Seems good to me but does anyone who works in a boatyard have any experience?

[Hydra]

In my berth, the ebb tidal steam comes on the starboard quarter, so I lash the tiller over to port (rudder to starboard), to minimize the angle of attack of water and the pressure on the fenders. Left alone, the rudder would go hard over to port and maximize the pressure.

At anchor or on a mooring, I also lash the tiller, to reduce wear and tear on stops and bearings, but the position depends on the angle between wind and current, to try and reach an acceptable equilibrium.

Alain

[Gybe]

15 degrees off is a good idea, thank you.

[Astrid]

Mine has old time spoked wheel, so I use a rope lashing. Locking the rudder on a boat is much the same as locking the control surfaces on a parked airplane--less potential for wear, tear or outright damage.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

I always lash my wheel or tiller at about 15 degrees off center so she will round up if she comes loose.

Not disagreeing, but isn't this alittle paranoid?

[Capt.Fred]

Tieing with a bungi sounds like a good idea. 1. It decreases wear. 2. It lessens impact. I like It! Capt.Fred

[GaryMayo]

There is use, and there is wear. Normal use is the rudder acting out commands from the wheel, buy cables (in my case) rotating past a series of pulleys. The same is also true, if the rudder moves, so does the wheel. So an object of force (wave, boat bump) acted upon the rudder is dissipated in the movement of the cable along the pulleys to the wheel.

If I have my wheel locked, what was normal use, now becomes wear because all the repetitive forces all day long need to go on to somewhere.

I am new to wheel steering, but so far, I leave mine unlocked so the things it normally does, it can normally do.

Keeping the system well lubricated seems the best remedy to aging components.

I could see locking the rudder, but locking the helm wheel, would be like a cars braking system for stop and go driving being in the transmission rather than in the wheels.

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Not disagreeing, but isn't this alittle paranoid?

--only until you see it save the boat See my earlier post, IMO it saved Blue from major damage.

[rtbates]

Of course. Why let it wear while it sits and rocks back and forth...

I was once in a slip next to a neighbor who let his rudder flop around for years .After a few years of this his upper bearings were toast and you could hear the rudder post coming up hard against the opening slam, slam, slam... It hurt to listen...

My tiller/rudder is locked in place 100% of the time that it's not being used to steer..

[Bobcat]

[QUOTE=nigel1;965049]Me to, although I use a rope lashing, and for the same reason.

Trying to make a wheel lock to stop rudder whiplash when going astern. Not enough room between the wheel and bulkhead to install a wheel autopilot.

I don't think simple lashing will work for my small traditional design spoked wood wheel. Any ideas much appreciated and no free hands due to distance between twin engine controls!

[danielamartindm]

Locking the rudder certainly adds more lateral resistance to sailing around a mooring or an anchor than not; and why allow non-functional repetitive motion injury to your steering system over time? Its the friction of the moving parts that does the damage, no?

[Wotname]

Always good to see an old thread revisited

Originally Posted by ozskipper

........
On a tiller steered boat, the only negative (not that its much of a negative) is that there is a line crossing the cockpit when boarding from the transom and its just one extra thing to step over. Not a big deal eh?

FWIW, I simply remove the tiller pilot and replace it with a fixed link when docked or anchored.

[Don C L]

I am very happy the two previous owners kept the tiller tied off when in the marina. The 54 year-old bronze rudder post and gudgeon are in perfect shape.

[sv.antea]

I liveboard in an often bouncy slip. I lash my tiller hard to my forward extended stern pulpit. I't's out of the way in my small cockpit. If I forget and the wind and waves pick up, the rudder will work it's way over to one side or the other and bang to it's stop that shakes the whole boat.
On mooring or in tidal situation, it's a different story. But on a wheel steered boat in a slip, I would turn the wheel hard over to the side which would present less rudder to the waves, and tie off the wheel just hard enough, so it doesn't wiggle. That would keep all the moving parts from moving, less wear and noise.