If you stand behind the wheel it should turn like a car.
If the wheel is stern-mounted behind the helmsman most prefer it to be
the 'other' way - like a tiller.



In article , lupi
wrote:

I know, dumbest question you ever heard but I've always had a proper
tiller. I'm pretty sure the steering system is called a radial drive
but it's disassembled and lying in the bilge.
So,.. if you are standing at the mighty wheel stroking your binnacle
fondly, a corn cob pipe clenched in your teeth, humming the words to a
ribald shanty and you want the bow to swing gently to port (a left
turn, so to speak) you would then:
a) turn the wheel counter clockwise (like a car)
b) turn the wheel clockwise (umm,.. like a boat?)
It's a European built boat and it's in the northern hemisphere at
present if that makes a difference.
Again, I apologize.

Modern helm steering is like a car. Turn the top of the wheel in the
direction you want to go.

That said, let me try to confuse the subject a little. Until 1933 the
command to turn a ship quickly to port was "Hard-a-Starboard". The idea
being that the command was referencing the tiller rather than the wheel.

As to your radial drive. In a cable system, the arm that turns the rudder
post can be a Quadrant or a full disk radial drive. Radials work best when
the cables can be led directly to the post. Quadrants require a sheave on
either side to guide the cable.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"lupi" wrote in message
...
I know, dumbest question you ever heard but I've always had a proper
tiller. I'm pretty sure the steering system is called a radial drive
but it's disassembled and lying in the bilge.
So,.. if you are standing at the mighty wheel stroking your binnacle
fondly, a corn cob pipe clenched in your teeth, humming the words to a
ribald shanty and you want the bow to swing gently to port (a left
turn, so to speak) you would then:
a) turn the wheel counter clockwise (like a car)
b) turn the wheel clockwise (umm,.. like a boat?)
It's a European built boat and it's in the northern hemisphere at
present if that makes a difference.
Again, I apologize.

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:40:24 GMT, lupi wrote:

I know, dumbest question you ever heard but I've always had a proper
tiller. I'm pretty sure the steering system is called a radial drive
but it's disassembled and lying in the bilge.
So,.. if you are standing at the mighty wheel stroking your binnacle
fondly, a corn cob pipe clenched in your teeth, humming the words to a
ribald shanty and you want the bow to swing gently to port (a left
turn, so to speak) you would then:
a) turn the wheel counter clockwise (like a car)
b) turn the wheel clockwise (umm,.. like a boat?)
It's a European built boat and it's in the northern hemisphere at
present if that makes a difference.
Again, I apologize.

Apparently, if you were on the bridge of the Titanic, that fateful
night, you would swing the wheel clockwise. The rest of us, since that
time, turn the wheel a/c like a car when turning to port.

Brian W

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:b0iyd.10614$Qk5.2287@lakeread04...
Modern helm steering is like a car. Turn the top of the wheel in the
direction you want to go.


There are several offlist mails to you I've not heard about - have you
gotten them?

I'm off line for a bit but will be back this evening...

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
Modern helm steering is like a car. Turn the top of the wheel in the
direction you want to go.

That said, let me try to confuse the subject a little. Until 1933 the
command to turn a ship quickly to port was "Hard-a-Starboard". The idea
being that the command was referencing the tiller rather than the wheel.

As to your radial drive. In a cable system, the arm that turns the rudder
post can be a Quadrant or a full disk radial drive. Radials work best when
the cables can be led directly to the post. Quadrants require a sheave on
either side to guide the cable.


Like a quadrant, or 1/4 circumferential coupling, the telescoping
mono radial or slave tiller arm would require sheaves where the
telescoping steering arm would intersect the bulkheads in the
steering well under the steering deck, as in the system I built for
50 bucks. It worked very well, despite it's technical shortcomings.

The primary design compromise was that the steering was
theoretically less precise at dead ahead than it was at extreme
angles. This was not a practical concern, since at maximum extension
there was a little more slop in the arm and at dead ahead it was
sufficiently precise. In such a system, the further you turn the
wheel, the less deflection of the rudder results than near the
centre. Non the less, 3 turns lock to lock for +, - 45 degrees
maximum rudder angle was sufficient and comfortable in my balanced
spade rudder setup on an HR28.

A full rudder post top wheel, a or 3/4 circular coupling fixture for
circumferential steering cables can lead the cables directly to the
binnacle.

Terry K

lupi wrote:

I know, dumbest question you ever heard but I've always had a proper
tiller. I'm pretty sure the steering system is called a radial drive
but it's disassembled and lying in the bilge.
So,.. if you are standing at the mighty wheel stroking your binnacle
fondly, a corn cob pipe clenched in your teeth, humming the words to a
ribald shanty and you want the bow to swing gently to port (a left
turn, so to speak) you would then:
a) turn the wheel counter clockwise (like a car)
b) turn the wheel clockwise (umm,.. like a boat?)
It's a European built boat and it's in the northern hemisphere at
present if that makes a difference.
Again, I apologize.

Well, it's up to you, really.

By "A proper tiller" you of course mean that you stand behind the
rudder post and move the tiller, which normally points aft directly
at you, towards the direction you want the bow of the boat to follow?

It sort of depends on local custom and driver training. Where are
you commissioning the vessel?

To maintain that intuitive, though increasingly more obscure
convention, you would of course want to move the king's head knot on
the wheel towards the direction you would want the boat to take.

You may, of course, place the knotted stringwork king's head knot
wherever you wish on the wheel, so long as the wheel may be rotated
to position it for your convenience.

Naturally, as part of the shellback transsubstantiation ceremony
practiced every time you cross the equator, as master you must untie
the knot and retie it in the opposite sense, that is, a left handed
knot in the soutern hemisphere, and the opposite when otherwise,
lest it not be as effective, nor feel as natural as you would
desire. This duty may be seconded to a mate or cabin boy.

Who knows what fate awaits those who defy King Neptune and his customs?

When the boat is to be moved in reverse, or "aft", as we more
experienced sailors like to say, you can merely stand in front, or
before the binnacle, with respect to the normal direction of travel,
face the intended new direction, aback, and steer normally, as you
would with any ordinary wheel. The compass card would then seem to
react in an opposite sense. Time may seem to change direction, or
speed, or both.

A more succinct, definitive and terse list of answers for your list
of questions would be: "Yes!" and of course, "No!"

That is, *if* the king's head knot is fastened to the bottom centre
of the wheel whilst the boat is proceeding straight ahead, and you
imagine it to be the ordinary, or non-conventional tiller grip.

Conventional or not, it is consensual in some places.

I prefer a gunnel line, tied to the tiller grip, and led to the
forepeak through a block in one thwart gronicle, through another
block at the forepeak and back to the tiller through yet another
block on the opposite side of the thwart. The line is pulled fore
or aft depending on where you are when you pull it, to control the
rudder deflection from anywhere on deck near the gunnel.

This system is akin to the truly conventional steerboard method, but
is more like a remote control for the single handed sailor.

The boat will naturally continue on wherever the wind and current
send it. Almost everyone knows that sailing, like curling, is
almost entirely a question of luck.

You could master either system insofar as either may be mastered
with sufficient time for training.

Terry K

Terry,
Pertaining to "Naturally, as part of the shellback transsubstantiation
ceremony
practiced every time you cross the equator";
I don't think I'd try to get my pollywog buddies to strip down to their
skivvies and crawl around the deck on hands and knees and spank them with a
piece of fire hose.
I'll suffer the fate wrought by King Neptune and avoid the asskicking and
subsequent tossing over the side of this Shellback! : )
MMC

"Terry Spragg" wrote in message
...
lupi wrote:

I know, dumbest question you ever heard but I've always had a proper
tiller. I'm pretty sure the steering system is called a radial drive
but it's disassembled and lying in the bilge.
So,.. if you are standing at the mighty wheel stroking your binnacle
fondly, a corn cob pipe clenched in your teeth, humming the words to a
ribald shanty and you want the bow to swing gently to port (a left
turn, so to speak) you would then:
a) turn the wheel counter clockwise (like a car)
b) turn the wheel clockwise (umm,.. like a boat?)
It's a European built boat and it's in the northern hemisphere at
present if that makes a difference.
Again, I apologize.

Well, it's up to you, really.

By "A proper tiller" you of course mean that you stand behind the rudder
post and move the tiller, which normally points aft directly at you,
towards the direction you want the bow of the boat to follow?

It sort of depends on local custom and driver training. Where are you
commissioning the vessel?

To maintain that intuitive, though increasingly more obscure convention,
you would of course want to move the king's head knot on the wheel towards
the direction you would want the boat to take.

You may, of course, place the knotted stringwork king's head knot wherever
you wish on the wheel, so long as the wheel may be rotated to position it
for your convenience.

Naturally, as part of the shellback transsubstantiation ceremony practiced
every time you cross the equator, as master you must untie the knot and
retie it in the opposite sense, that is, a left handed knot in the soutern
hemisphere, and the opposite when otherwise, lest it not be as effective,
nor feel as natural as you would desire. This duty may be seconded to a
mate or cabin boy.

Who knows what fate awaits those who defy King Neptune and his customs?

When the boat is to be moved in reverse, or "aft", as we more experienced
sailors like to say, you can merely stand in front, or before the
binnacle, with respect to the normal direction of travel, face the
intended new direction, aback, and steer normally, as you would with any
ordinary wheel. The compass card would then seem to react in an opposite
sense. Time may seem to change direction, or speed, or both.

A more succinct, definitive and terse list of answers for your list of
questions would be: "Yes!" and of course, "No!"

That is, *if* the king's head knot is fastened to the bottom centre of the
wheel whilst the boat is proceeding straight ahead, and you imagine it to
be the ordinary, or non-conventional tiller grip.

Conventional or not, it is consensual in some places.

I prefer a gunnel line, tied to the tiller grip, and led to the forepeak
through a block in one thwart gronicle, through another block at the
forepeak and back to the tiller through yet another block on the opposite
side of the thwart. The line is pulled fore or aft depending on where you
are when you pull it, to control the rudder deflection from anywhere on
deck near the gunnel.

This system is akin to the truly conventional steerboard method, but is
more like a remote control for the single handed sailor.

The boat will naturally continue on wherever the wind and current send it.
Almost everyone knows that sailing, like curling, is almost entirely a
question of luck.

You could master either system insofar as either may be mastered with
sufficient time for training.

Terry K

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 18:02:42 -0400, Terry Spragg
wrote:

You could master either system insofar as either may be mastered
with sufficient time for training.

If you can follow Terry's nautical arcana, it's even funnier. He's
like George Carlin crossed with Patrick O'Brian.

R.