Just to keep the winter going... heheh

[mgphl52]

I have wheel steering, my staysail and my yankee are both roller furling, I have a Spade and a Mantus anchor, I have battens in my mainsail which is not loose footed, I lock my prop, my exterior teak is finished with Cetol, and when offshore I do not maintain a 24 hour watch.
That should be enough fodder to keep this thread active "ad infinitum".

Synthetic Oil?

Mobil 1 in my Corvette, everything else gets Dino oil

And, in all my 50+ years of sailing, I have still never seen a tiller boat that carries an emergency wheel...

[steveg]

If you have a tiller, should you carry a spare?

[Jim Walsh]

And, in all my 50+ years of sailing, I have still never seen a tiller boat that carries an emergency wheel...

There's no need to condemn an entire class of watercraft owners for their lack of foresight. We all know prudence dictates that all tiller steered vessels should be equipped with emergency wheel steering.

[Jim Walsh]

If you have a tiller, should you carry a spare?

I would start with an assessment of your tiller, the tiller strap, and the cap assembly which attaches directly to your rudder shaft. If all are in good order you may wish to carry a spare tiller or tiller assembly based on your own comfort level when taking into consideration the intended use of your vessel and the body or water on which it will be used.
If you intend crossing the North Atlantic I'd advise a full spare tiller assembly. If you predominantly daysail in non-hazardous protected waters then you may be fine just doing a close inspection before your season begins and following up with a safety check prior to use.
I met a gent in Bermuda a couple years ago who had broken his tiller. He stayed on a close reach for several hours while he whittled the remainder of his tiller to fit the tiller strap, added a couple hose clamps to make up for his lack of a perfect fit, and sailed the rest of his journey to the island with a stubby, but perfectly serviceable, tiller.

[moctrams]

A friend of mine had an old Alberg 30 and on the way to New York the tiller broke. He used a pair of vice grips to get to New York. He never told me what he used on return journey.

[bgephart]

It is very easy and inexpensive to fashion an emergency tiller from 1 1/4" lumber stock - just cut to length and drill the appropriate two holes to fit the tiller fitting. It's not beautiful but serviceable if you happen to break your standard tiller. I keep one in my v berth.

[tjr818]

A store bought axe handle can easily be converted to an emergency tiller, and it doesn't look like you strapped a 2x4 to your rudder.
I had a tiller break on me one time, it was in close quarters and it was scary.