Wheel Problem - Help!

[Cheechako]

yea, good point. Didnt he just sail to Cartegena though? seems he would have had enough rudder pressure to fail in forward then... maybe it's a new problem I suppose... boy I cant imagine a system that has no stops. how in the heck do you know where mid point is for backing?

[Captain Bill]

The only way I can tell is by the rudder angle indicator. Alternatively since it's a cat if the boat is going off in some wierd direction I know it's not centered.

[Soft Air]

In reverese the boat just tends to go in circles whereas going forward can be done accurately

[Captain Bill]

That sounds like the rudder is going hard over which is what it would do if the forces were overcoming the hydraulic pressure. You might need to put a seal kit in the pump. Do you know the brand of the steering unit?

[rtbates]

welcome to the not so wonderful world of trying to back a full keel boat.

I assume the HC is a full keel, correct?

My Cape Dory backs just as bad. Hint,,, back only as far as it takes to get going forward.

The wind blows the bow downwind 100% of the time while backing. Learn how your boat backs in varying conditions is about all you can do.

Do NOT try to fight it or you will end up in trouble.

In most situations the stern will naturally want to go one way or the other. It probably won't be the direction you want it to go in, so learn to adapt ia about all you can do.

good luck

[Soft Air]

I dont know the brand of the steering unit

[Captain Bill]

Is the pump (behind the wheel) a little metal cube or nearly a cube?

[Soft Air]

Captain Bill I will check and reply to your qustion asap

JC

[Christian Van H]

Time for pics, Softair. Lets see that hydraulic pump and cylinders...

[Cheechako]

my trick for backing is to put it in gear with the rudder centered for a few seconds at low throttle, take it out of gear, do this a couple of times to get some reverse motion going without the prop turning. Then put it in gear and attempt to steer. I think the key is to never goose it in reverse, unless you are trying to walk the stern to port ( port on most boats anyway)

[Soft Air]

I need to take pics yes, I have no idea on where to locate the entire system but I will look Christian

[Captain Bill]

If it happens to be a hynautics unit the following link may help you see what you're looking for.
http://boaterstore.com/hynautics/hynautic1.html

[Soft Air]

Great, thanks Captain Bill

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

my trick for backing is to put it in gear with the rudder centered for a few seconds at low throttle, take it out of gear, do this a couple of times to get some reverse motion going without the prop turning. Then put it in gear and attempt to steer. I think the key is to never goose it in reverse, unless you are trying to walk the stern to port ( port on most boats anyway)

Can't comment on the hydraulics b/c I have no experience with it. But Cheechako is correct in how to get a boat to back and the rudder to control the boat. What kind of circle does the boat do a port or starboard. If it is turning clockwise, and you have the typical prop rotation, chances are that the prop wash is the main culprit. This really came to my attention when I was coming out of the fairway and there was a race going on. I had to put the boat in full reverse to kill all momentum but the boat didn't back. it started to turn a clockwise circle. Try Cheechako's technique before speninding alot of time on something that may not be broken.

The rudder has no control over the boat compared to the prop wash until there is enough speed in reverse. The propwash controls where the boat is going to go.

[forsailbyowner]

If someone was bleeding lines they could possibly have left the bleeder nuts loose. Would be mushy helm and no stop. There would be an aluminum block the lines run into with two nuts on top. Nuts or threaded studs with flat screwdriver fitting on top would have to be tightened. Mine lost pressure and I never noticed it till I checked guage. Sight tube was culprit.Hynautics system