What do you do with the tiller at the end of the day???

[Watermark II]

With our previous boat, an Alberg design Pearson Commander, the tiller was tied with a bungy cord across the cockpit and I had to tighten the bolts the held the wood part to the rubber post fitting several times a season. I decided to just leave it untied and had no problems after that. The tiller on our ketch will stay vertical by itself and I just raise it and leave it alone on the mooring. After five seasons there have been no problems.

Andy
Watermark II
CD30K #2

[M. R. Bober]

We stopped using the tiller once the bank installed the ATM.

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster (where it may be pronounced "tiller" but it is spelled "teller"), VA

[Jay B.]

Now you all have me worried. Is there a reason to lash down the tiller? I am at a dock so am not swinging around a mooring.

Ron, I am not an expert by any means but I have read stories about worn out rudder bushings and such caused by 30 years of the rudder swinging freely while not in use. I secure my tiller because of that...but mainly because the PO told me to.

[trapper]

I do like others with a 25D, I use a cover and I just stuff the tiller in a vertical position in the mainsheet.

However, Saga Blue is at a dock on a lake in a sheltered cove. When she was in Charleston with that 4 to 5K current, I lashed the tiller in a vertical position to the swimladder and puspit with the small line that I keep on the swimladder to make retreiving it eaiser.

[D Rush]

Hortizontal using a clove hitch on the tiller to the jib cleats

[Sea Hunt]

As I read more of the responses to this interesting thread I am reminded of what several people told me at the sailing club about the position of the tiller/rudder while S/V Tadpole is resting on her mooring.

They all said it is better for the tiller/rudder to be secured a little "off" of amidships. Advancing age, senility, Alzheimer's etc. prevents me from remembering exactly why they said this although I think it had something to do with reducing the amount of swing on the mooring.

Honestly, I have rarely done this. Our mooring field is pretty well protected and there is usually a fairly steady easterly breeze. Our sailboats do not do a lot of "dancing" on their moorings

On an unrelated note, I was finally able to get out sailing yesterday for the first time after installation of the jib sheet cam cleats. We have had a lot of rain and strong winds lately. The cam cleats worked GREAT and made adjusting the jib much, much easier.

Thanks to all who encouraged me to add cam cleats. It is a great addition and really does not detract from the "classic" status of a Cape Dory Typhoon Weekender. I think Mr. Alberg would be OK with it.

[rtbates]

I just let mine swing free, vertically.

Now you all have me worried. Is there a reason to lash down the tiller? I am at a dock so am not swinging around a mooring.

Yes there is. To keep the rudder shaft bearings/bushing from wear when NOT sailing. I once dock next to a boat who's tiller wagged back and forth constantly. Over the course of several years I watched as his rudder shaft wore and the entire shaft would wobble and bang. It got much much worse over the years.

Mine is lashed horizontal to the jib cleats, also covered. Extra, expendable covering material is used where the lines attach, keeping the sunbrella from wearing

[Joe Myerson]

Randy raises some good points.

I used to lash the tiller horizontally amidships, using a clove hitch (or John Martin's famous "tiller hitch") and the two aft cleats. It was really secure--but it made it almost impossible to move around in the cockpit. (Once again, my mid-boom traveler rears its bizarre head.)

I notice that vertically, even when lashed, the rudder still has a chance to move slightly from side to side--because there is little or no leverage to the tiller.

This is probably not the best thing for our aging boats, but it's one of those compromises that we all make.

--Joe

[GLutzow]

I lash mine horizontally, just slightly off of center as I find that it rides much easier on the mooring. I made a cover out of sunbrella material that I purchased from Sailrite. I did the same for my Typhoon Weekender and never had any bearing problems for the 25 years I owned the ship.

[Neil Gordon]

Doesn't this thread discriminate against and unfairly exclude the wheel guys?

[GLutzow]

Absolutely!!

[MoJac]

WOW!!! Thank you to all for all the great feed back to my question. This is really great to see sooooo many CD'ers chime in on how they have handled their tillers. This group as usual is a great resource for many many different areas.

With responce to the "wheel guys" out there, I would guess that most of the "wheel guys" also have inboards, and at the risk of opening up Pandoras Box, I seem to remember reading (at nauseum) thread discussions (did I mention at nauseum) about "free wheeling vs. locked prop shafts!!! HA HA!! LOL!!!

All kidding aside, the above comments are just in fun.

What do people with wheels ,and therefore rudders, do when leaving the boat.

- leave loose
- locked out along centerline
- locked out just off centerline

[tartansailor]

Now you all have me worried. Is there a reason to lash down the tiller? I am at a dock so am not swinging around a mooring.

Ron, I am not an expert by any means but I have read stories about worn out rudder bushings and such caused by 30 years of the rudder swinging freely while not in use. I secure my tiller because of that...but mainly because the PO told me to.

That's exactly right.

Dick

[Noel Heslop]

NO to Vertically lashed has a small tiller movement - I just seem to get a little water seepage in the bilge.

YES to Horizontally lashed - no water in bilge, so this is how I do it. I have a tiller cover slowly being weather affected, but now with a full cover on Breezy, all is well. I am on a swing mooring, and Breezy certainly now moves with the slightest wind change.

I also tie off the boom with the same rope as an extra safety step.

Removing tiller rope temporarily when on board for maintenance.

[Joe Montana]

At a CD rendezvous a few years ago, a member was teaching several of us a knot that can be tied around the tip of a tiller in the bight of a line. When tensioned, it gripped the tiller and the two ends could be cleated or tied off port and starboard.

When the knot was slipped off the end of the tiller, the ends of the line were pulled in opposite directions and the knot simply disappeared or "exploded" (like a slip knot).

Does anyone remember the name of this knot, or how to tie it? It's primary use was for improvising a bosun's chair using a flat a piece of wood -- but it was a great way to tie off a tiller quickly and securely with any piece of line.