on a mooring, what do YOU do with your tiller?

mattlydon · Post by **mattlydon** » Apr 17th, '09, 15:32

I've always lashed mine tight, have been thinking that free-swing might be less stressful (although it will wear the bushings faster......opinions?

Oswego John · Post by **Oswego John** » Apr 17th, '09, 17:22

I usually center it and lash it with a bungee cord.

Sometimes, in light air, the tidal or other currents have more effect on the position or direction of the hull than the breeze does.

I think that a straight rudder blade eliminates a lot of the hull's skating.

My $.02
O J

Dean Abramson · Post by **Dean Abramson** » Apr 17th, '09, 17:28

On my 25D, I always centered the tiller. Then I lashed it between the two jib sheet cleats, with line.

Warren S · Post by **Warren S** » Apr 17th, '09, 19:26

we park ours vertically in a small rope loop that permanently lives on the backstay. Its out of the way from everything but the swim ladder.

Jim Sullivan · Post by **Jim Sullivan** » Apr 17th, '09, 20:59

On my two Typhoons and CD22D, I would do basically as described by Dean Abramson with a clove hitch at the tiller. Worked fine in over twenty + years on a mooring.

Jim

Dean Abramson · Post by **Dean Abramson** » Apr 17th, '09, 21:18

Jim, I used a clove hitch too! Kept a piece of line with a bowline on one end. Looped it over one cleat, did the clove hitch on the tiller, then cleated it on the other cleat.

Thus I ended each day by using two of my three knots...

When ON the boat for the night, I did pretty much as Warren describes above.

Dean

Paul D. · Post by **Paul D.** » Apr 17th, '09, 22:39

One of my joys was tying a clove hitch on the tiller when putting my old Typhoon to bed. I usually used the main sheet back from cleat to cleat. But I would certainly tie it off. Not only does the currents move the rudder around but even the rocking of the boat moves the tiller and rudder. Way too much margin for error for me and I never once considered NOT tying it off. I'd worry about chipping the varnish or breakage. Especially after putting ten coats of Gold Spar (Back when it was Clipper Clear) on the thing!

Paul

Warren Kaplan · Post by **Warren Kaplan** » Apr 18th, '09, 06:35

The tiller on my CD27 swings straight up from where it attaches to the rudder at the very rear of the cockpit. Just behind is the mainsheet as it runs from the traveler to the boom's end. I just intertwine the tiller in the lines of the mainsheet and it holds it there when I'm away.

Ron Brassord · Post by **Ron Brassord** » Apr 18th, '09, 08:07

Tying off a tiller works OK, but there is another way I have been using for years. I believe it is a very old concept and mostly reffered to as a tiller comb. I have installed one on a Ty, two 25s, and our present 22. I wouldn't be without it for single handing and storage.
I described it in a posting back in August 2002, and it can be found by searching under "tiller control"
Anyone can make one. It's basically a removable piece of 1"X3" piece of wood mounted under the tiller with holes drilled in it to recieve a brass pin on the underside of the tiller. It quickly captures the tiller in any position, and holds it firmly, and can be released in an instant.
I believe it can be fitted to any size boat with a tiller in the cockpit'
I will send a picture to anyone who asks by email or private message.
Good sailing Ron B Lighthouse Point Fl.

mattlydon · Post by **mattlydon** » Apr 18th, '09, 22:19

Ron,

I've heard of a tiller comb before, would love to see your implementation.

To those who lash - I always used to, as well, but using the jib cleats to do so would mean that you have a rope constantly rubbing the coaming boards on my 28, and the winches are too far forward - the line would slip off the end of the tiller.

The whole issue which got me started on this though was that the boat went in the water this week, and the tiller was a bit loose on the rudder post. Conditions were fairly choppy, and I found the loose link really made the (strong) forces the rudder was subject to much more apparent. I left it up that night, as I didn't have the appropriate socket handy to tighten things up, and began thinking that NOT lashing it down prevented all those stresses on the boat.

Markst95 · Post by **Markst95** » Apr 19th, '09, 00:04

Anyone use something like a Davis Tiller Tamer? Then you could just lock it into place when you left.

Neil Gordon · Post by **Neil Gordon** » Apr 19th, '09, 08:30

Markst95 wrote:Anyone use something like a Davis Tiller Tamer? Then you could just lock it into place when you left.

Dig out a short length of light line and donate the $$$ you'd spend on tiller taming gizmos to your favorite charity.

I'm in a slip, not a mooring. Generally, I lash the tiller over to the port side, because my boarding gate is to starboard.

rtbates · Post by **rtbates** » Apr 20th, '09, 14:29

I tie the tiller off so the rudder won't budge. Those bushing have only so many millions of rotations before they become sloppy and I want all of them to be by my hand, not sitting and flopping around.

My 'tiller tamer' is the tiller extension. I set the length from the lee coaming to the tiller for the right amount of helm and set it against said coaming and sit back and relax. As long as the wind doesn't shift she'll hold a course extremely well. I tend to set it so that in puffs she heads up a tad, forces on sail decrease, and she then falls back. She won't sail as straight as I can, BUT I can do other things while she steers herself.

The Cape Dory Board

on a mooring, what do YOU do with your tiller?

on a mooring, what do YOU do with your tiller?

backstay

Tiller control

tiller comb