Two days before I sank my
boat, You weren't there. So It was my fault,
My
steering cables exploded, Leaving me in a heavy sea and no
steering,
I could go around in tight circles, I was almost on a very wide shelf reef, and The
wind was blowing me towards them,
And there was no way I was going to attempt sailing into a beach in a small area surrounded by
reefs,
So I rigged up a
rope system to the Drive leg on my
boat, lifted the rudders and got to the beach that way,
It was very difficult,
I anchored, I dragged, Changed the Crap
anchor to the Danforth and anchored again,
It held, But after Bundabergs effort, A rock got jammed in it on the turning tide,
I stayed awake all night, I have 3 yachts very close, I need decent anchors, Both of these are crap.
Any way, the point of my story is this,
I am on an Island, 12 miles from a decent Port and Harbour, And I dont sail Very well,
So I am not going to attempt it with out steering,
I have a broken steering, Its behind the Bulkhead, How do I get at it,
I have my
Laptop on Board, So I
Google it, Broken steering on a
Gemini Catamaran,
It came from another
Gemini owner, A complete break down and
installation of my steering on You tube, Put on their by another Gemini Owner,
The Video made my steering a piece of cake to fix,
Considering, I had to pull the Fridge right out to get behind it for the steering,
With out the video,
I would have smashed the fridge getting it out, as the screws holding it in, cant be seen,
The steering
cables run through the boat between the layers, and behind
panels, Just impossible to find,
Also found a hole that could be compromised in a very heavy following sea, Where the steering cable goes through the rear of the hulls,
It could actually sink the boat, I did point it out to the Gemini owners, Just needs plugging with Silicone, Or some thing, Bash a rag in it, That will do it too,
I was lucky, That the P/O had put the old Steering cables in the forward locker when he changed them over,
They had been sitting in
salt water and had frozen up, Half a day later, I had them freed up enough to get me to Port Stephens where I could get new steering cables and new reliable anchors,
I spent all day Wednesday repairing my steering, But it was not in any condition to sail 12 miles in an oncoming very Black storm with predicted winds in excess of 35 knots, Which did level, Port Stephens, Massive Damage,
I read a lot of posts and threads, I pick and choose who I listen too, None of my posts or threads require a Hug or Abuse,
Usually it is what has occurred, I learn from the feed back, Positive and Negative, It opens my mind to reality, And ways to stay ahead,
I listen to Brain Dead Morons, Even they come out with Brilliant Ideas, Some times, But they dont know it,
Forums are very good, If you need to know some thing specific and NOW,
Kudo's to the people who do respond and in good faith,
I thank you all,
Cheers,
Brian,
Mrs. Rain Dog~Ocean Girl
Re: Forums are great for instant knowledge,
elimination is the only 
..........I suspect the latter, in which case I would suggest (mostly to others) that at least knowing how to access steering "gubbins" is prudent, and to at least consider the effect of a cable (or hydraulic) failure (or some other failure point) - that may well not involve becoming an expert fixer on every bit and carrying the spares needed, but it may involve being able to fix some failures, ensuring easy access for others and having a plan B to bypass the problem, even if only temporarily......and possibly a resolve to do some preventative 
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions