Well that was hard work getting that big heavy motherf***** wheel steering off the boat. Included getting sea sick stuck upside down in arse end of boat like a pretzel undoing bolts.
Wrestled it off the boat this morning and manhandled into the dinghy without sinking it and me. Not light. Like getting a nasty splinter out of your hand or having a rotten tooth pulled getting that nightmare off the boat. It's got me beat why anyone thinks putting one of these things in a 30ft yacht is a good idea. I can only think it's a fashion thing. I'll enjoy installing the tiller in next couple of days. Wheel will go onto ebay.
Out with the old and ugly and in with that one damned fine lookin tiller you knocked up.
Select to expand quoteclaverton said..
a close up
lovely piece of work!
just for my understanding, how do you end up with perfectly flat surfaces on the different timbers to allow glueing effectively. Do you use a circular saw then a planer?
In PBO magazine a few issues ago they did a article on the modern trend of small yachts having a wheel instead of a tiller and went through the progress of converting a tiller to a wheel on a existing boat and quoted the cost of the conversion as being many thousands of dollars
They posed he question of why you would want to be stuck at the back of a boat behind a wheel with limited access to sheet winches and main sheet and not being able to hide under a dodger while steering in bad weather
They showed a before and after pic of the boat in question and the wheel took up a lot of room in the cockpit compared to the original tiller
Also when the conversion was completed the throttle control lever was still mounted low on the side of the cockpit and I would assume this might make it hard to manoeuvre in close quarters working the wheel and throttle at the same time
In the photo that was posted in this thread it illustrated that the tiller saved a lot of weight on the boat compared to the original wheel
My thoughts and some will disagree
Regards Don
I'm in complete agreement with you Don, I just don't understand the obsession with wheel steering, I agree with every point you made. Plus there is another point, the feel and response of a tiller far exceeds that of a wheel.
Select to expand quotekeensailor said..
just for my understanding, how do you end up with perfectly flat surfaces on the different timbers to allow glueing effectively. Do you use a circular saw then a planer?
Providing your circular saw doesn't have too much run out it is perfectly capable of cutting timber that is more than adequate for making tillers.
If you use a thicknesser then it may be that the timber ends up too smooth and will not be "toothy" enough to provide good glue keying, so a certain amount of surface roughness with a belt sander is a desirable thing.
As I had mentioned previously any timber that is oily in nature will need a good wash down with acetone or appropriate thinners.
The glue of choice should be Resorcinol Resin, it weathers better than epoxies and doesn't soften with heat, but these days with the proliferation of epoxy glues it is getting harder to find stockists that carry retail quantities.
Keensailor, the local timber mob (Swaddlings at Rozelle) had a saw that they used to cut down the timber to about 10 or 12mm for me and then I did the rest with a hand plane to 5 or 6 mm which took some whittling but not an unpleasant job to do. Bought a big bucket full of assorted old clamps on ebay pretty cheaply, and used epoxy glue and a jig I made out of particle board I got from Bunnings.
I wouldn't mind trying it with Resorcinol Resin next time (if there is a next time) as Loosechange suggests. After I took it out of the jig glued together I just used a hand plane to get a taper towards the forward end of it.
The other disadvantage of wheel steering on a small boat is it's a pain in the arse and dangerous doing a helmsman changeover in a seaway, or even clambering behind the thing when solo ... you're exposed.
Select to expand quoteclaverton said..
The other disadvantage of wheel steering on a small boat is it's a pain in the arse and dangerous doing a helmsman changeover in a seaway, or even clambering behind the thing when solo ... you're exposed.
With your Currawong if your hand steering your normal seating position will be just behind the cabin, eyes just above the turned up rear edge of the cabin. I use a timing belt setup to adjust self steering gear. Only time I go to the rear of the cockpit is to tend my troll line.
Spot on Ramona. Took tiller down this morning to measure up installing tiller into new tiller head to get the height right for the wind vane lines. Very pleased to find that tiller position is such that I can have one hand on the end of the tiller and still reach the mainsheet. This is a huge improvement over being stuck behind that horrible wheel.
I had another look at your youtube vid of your vane setup this morning before I went down to the boat to see how you positioned your four blocks for the lines going to the vane. Mine will be very similar and straightforward but I'll install tiller and windvane first. Next job is measuring up for new main and headsail, then sort out some new running rigging.
My self steering gear and control lines have changed considerably since that video. I should make a new one.
Select to expand quoteclaverton said..
Wheel will go onto ebay.
I can just see the ad now. "100 lbs of useless crap to decorate your shed" 
thanks Cisco, I won't be getting you to write the copy.
It's got a large good quality compass in the top of it. I'll put it up with no reserve to get rid of it. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
