Emergency Tiller on Morgan 44 CC

[scottmc59]

Recently purchased our Morgan 44 Center Cockpit, 1991 model. I only have one piece of the emergency tiller, the part that attaches to the steering, not the actual tiller that you would use to steer. I know it's probably just a pipe of some sort. Anyone have info on the dimensions of it. Also any experience steering from the aft cabin and communicating through the hatch to crew on deck?



thanks

[tkeithlu]

It must be a beautiful boat.

The tiller undoubtedly was removeable, or you'd be tripping over it in the aft cabin. Could I suggest that you make your own replacement? It is, as you say, as simple as a pipe or a 2x4. Having the head is the important part. See how it joined to the tiller, and make it strong, not pretty. Stow it out of sight. Mine is a little different (slips onto the top of the rudder post), but not in principle.

Have you got a compass that you can mount or move to the aft cabin if you ever need to use the backup steering? If you can hold a course, yelling will do as an intercom. The next step up, and what lots of people use for anchoring and docking, is VHF portable radios with voice actuated headsets, so you don't have to get a hand loose to press the PTT switch.

[scottmc59]

Thanks. I'll be shopping for an aluminum pipe that fits. I was trying to figure out the optimum length. Maybe 4 ft.

[tkeithlu]

Let's see. You want it to swing 45 degrees each way without hitting anything. Beyond 45 degrees you're stopping the boat, not steering it. You want as much leverage as you can get. You want to pin it to the head so it doesn't slip out at an embarrassing moment. Nice thing about aluminum pipe, you can shorten it with a hacksaw. Move on to the next problem.

[CassidyNZ]

The tube on mine is a little over 6ft, aluminium connected to the rudder stock with a stainless arm that is pinned to the top of the post with a thru-bolt. The end of the pipe is connected with a block system not unlike a main sheet traveler to pad eyes on either side.

For steering a course, I have mounted a bracket in the aft cockpit onto which my Suunto hand steer compass fits enabling the helmsman to hold a decent steering course. What I haven’t done yet is install a Bluetooth camera in the cockpit to enable a modicum of foreword vision just to remove the feeling of isolation. I might still do that.

I haven’t used this system in anger, just connected it up to see if it all functions OK. It was fitted by a previous owner. It looks like it will work if required and it may even be possible to direct the control lines up on deck through the aft hatch.

But all this said, on one occasion when we had steering cables come loose rendering the wheel all but useless, it was absolutely a piece of cake having the missus drive the boat using the auto pilot while I refitted the cables. I’m pretty sure this would work as emergency steering too, it has a dedicated “tiller arm” so even if the quadrant broke (seems very unlikely), the AP would still be fully operational.

I only keep the emergency setup functional because it is mandatory for NZ Cat1 inspection.

[scottmc59]

Thanks for that information. I'd love to see a photo of this. It's a little hard to visualize. But interesting that the tiller is 6 ft. long. I wish there was a way to bring it up through the hatch behind the helm to steer from up top but not sure that's possible.

[waterman46]

Let me understand, are you considering steering the boat from below deck, inside the aft cabin?

My Morgan 462, also center cockpit, came with a rudder post extension tube that connects to the rudder post. The extension tube is about 5' long (1524mm :-) and maybe 3" to 4" in diameter and there is a big round chome plated plate in the after deck that can be removed to allow this rudder extension to protrude through the deck at that point. Then there is another piece about the same length and diameter that plugs into the top of the extension to act as the tiller. Both pieces are very thick wall aluminum tubes for strength.

You can actually see the compass in the cockpit while working that tiller since you are on deck about 6' away, so with good vision you wouldn't even need an auxiliary compass, and of course can speak with anyone on deck easily.

No trying to steer from inside the cabin, I think that's not practical.

I would think more boat builders would have installed this low cost feature, it's just a hole in the deck over the rudder post with a nice access cover.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by scottmc59

Thanks. I'll be shopping for an aluminum pipe that fits. I was trying to figure out the optimum length. Maybe 4 ft.

Get an ax or pickax handle.

[Seriously Slow]

We have a 95 Catalina Morgan 45. I think it is the same hull as your 44. Our emergency tiller is a stainless tube 58" long. I never assembled the pieces so I can't help with the rest but after reading your post I will be taking the time to test it and figure out if there is any way to use it from deck through the hatch or ports.

[Bill O]

Will agree doing emergency steering from below isn't really practical. Never looked in these boats where the rudder shaft sticks up to add the ET, but assume its under the bed.

If you added a long shaft to the top of the rudder shaft where does it come out the deck? Looking at the boat layout would guess it could come thru the cabin top or back slope of the cabin top. Not the most ideal place.

If I were to add an ET and get to deck level, I would want it to come out of the aft deck. There you could add a screw in deck fitting, line the cored deck w/a tube and possibly another screw in deck fitting in the aft cabin ceiling to clean up the appearance. The creativity would be in the rudder shaft head fitting coming up to the deck so it could turn the rudder while the ET shaft remains in a single linear direction.

Another consideration if you have an open hatch, ports, or deck plate to do the steering, is have something in place to block water intrusion. Would be nice to be in calm weather when you need to use the ET, but most likely will not be great weather. A little forethought keeps the boat from taking on excessive water or otherwise trashing the interior of the boat. May not care at that moment, but later you may.

Originally Posted by Seriously Slow

We have a 95 Catalina Morgan 45. I think it is the same hull as your 44. Our emergency tiller is a stainless tube 58" long. I never assembled the pieces so I can't help with the rest but after reading your post I will be taking the time to test it and figure out if there is any way to use it from deck through the hatch or ports.

Yes, always good to make sure it actually connects properly to the rudder shaft head, know where all the parts are stashed and how to assemble it to make certain it works. Hopefully like a life raft, you probably will never need to use it.

In this thread, they had their ET ready to roll when they had a steering failure. Lesson from their experience was to inspect the steering system more often, which would have detected the defective parts and they could have corrected it before a total steering failure.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by waterman46

I would think more boat builders would have installed this low cost feature, it's just a hole in the deck over the rudder post with a nice access cover.

I’m not sure if you have actually tried to use the ET as described. I visualise the vertical component which plugs onto to rudder stock as being unsupported all the way to the point at the top where the tiller arm component attaches to provide the horizontal motion required to turn the rudder.

Given the sometimes powerful forces acting on the rudder, it seems to me that to stop the vertical component from being slewed around, there would need to be some sort of rotating bearing in the deck plate. For effect, imagine using a power bar with a long extension and a socket to loosen a bolt - without holding/supporting the elbow connection between the extension and the power bar, it is unlikely that you would be able to loosen the bolt (trying to find a conclusive way to describe my thoughts).

So given this need to support the connection between tiller arm and vertical component, there must be some sort of bearing in the deck plate? I’m trying to visualise how I would engineer such a setup and I’m struggling with it.

Personally, to have such a fitting in the deck right over my bunk would give me quite a lot of nervousness. I’m really pleased with the water-tightness of our aft cabin. As someone else mentioned, how do you stop water ingress into the aft cabin with such an arrangement? Or does one just accept that this is an emergency situation so suck it up and worry about the water later?

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

I’m not sure if you have actually tried to use the ET as described. I visualise the vertical component which plugs onto to rudder stock as being unsupported all the way to the point at the top where the tiller arm component attaches to provide the horizontal motion required to turn the rudder.

Given the sometimes powerful forces acting on the rudder, it seems to me that to stop the vertical component from being slewed around, there would need to be some sort of rotating bearing in the deck plate. For effect, imagine using a power bar with a long extension and a socket to loosen a bolt - without holding/supporting the elbow connection between the extension and the power bar, it is unlikely that you would be able to loosen the bolt (trying to find a conclusive way to describe my thoughts).

So given this need to support the connection between tiller arm and vertical component, there must be some sort of bearing in the deck plate? I’m trying to visualise how I would engineer such a setup and I’m struggling with it.

Personally, to have such a fitting in the deck right over my bunk would give me quite a lot of nervousness. I’m really pleased with the water-tightness of our aft cabin. As someone else mentioned, how do you stop water ingress into the aft cabin with such an arrangement? Or does one just accept that this is an emergency situation so suck it up and worry about the water later?

It is an emergency situation, so yes, just move the bunk cushions and worry about the water later. In truth, I have never been in seas so large and steep that they were breaking onto the aft deck. This would be very rare, but of course there could be rainwater. The opening is sealed with the same type of thing you see on water and diesel deck fills, only larger. I have never removed it, but it has never leaked at any time. There is a small square of teak screwed to the fiberglass head-liner, just under this opening, which would be removed to use the tiller. That wood looks like it never had any water on it.
So I have never actually tried out this emergency tiller. But as for the support of the vertical tube, it would attach tightly to the rudder post at the lower end and horizontal movement exerted by the tiller would be limited by the size of the deck opening, which is only just a little larger than the tube. I don't thing anything as complicated as a bearing is required. A little grease there should be sufficient if needed.