I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one
of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking and
light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger Cal
(33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not very
speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.

Thanks,
Jim Cate

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:24:13 +0000, Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the Houston -
Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one of the local
charter sail organizations that would provide docking and light maintenance of
the boat. They indicated that they would anticipate good rentals for such a
boat, assuming that it is surveyed and shown to be in good condition, but they
would not accept it unless the existing tiller steering mechanism can be
converted to wheel steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who
can do such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a conversion?

I replaced the steering in Far Cove (Catalina 36) and it cost me about that,
but I didn't replace the wheel, pedestal, rudder "wheel", etc. I'm guessing to
do it Right will cost substantially more than that. Try contacting Edson:
http://www.edsonmarine.com/sailboat/index.html

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:24:13 +0000, Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the Houston -
Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one of the local
charter sail organizations that would provide docking and light maintenance of
the boat. They indicated that they would anticipate good rentals for such a
boat, assuming that it is surveyed and shown to be in good condition, but they
would not accept it unless the existing tiller steering mechanism can be
converted to wheel steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who
can do such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a conversion?

I replaced the steering in Far Cove (Catalina 36) and it cost me about that,
but I didn't replace the wheel, pedestal, rudder "wheel", etc. I'm guessing to
do it Right will cost substantially more than that. Try contacting Edson:
http://www.edsonmarine.com/sailboat/index.html

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

I replaced the steering in Far Cove (Catalina 36) and it cost me about that,
but I didn't replace the wheel, pedestal, rudder "wheel", etc. I'm guessing to
do it Right will cost substantially more than that.


I think tha parts alone will be more than 1500.00. Installation will not be
cheap. My advice to people in this sort of situation is: Find the boat you want
WITH wheel steering and don't get involved with the mod.

RB

I replaced the steering in Far Cove (Catalina 36) and it cost me about that,
but I didn't replace the wheel, pedestal, rudder "wheel", etc. I'm guessing to
do it Right will cost substantially more than that.


I think tha parts alone will be more than 1500.00. Installation will not be
cheap. My advice to people in this sort of situation is: Find the boat you want
WITH wheel steering and don't get involved with the mod.

RB

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:24:13 -0600, Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one
of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking and
light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger Cal
(33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not very
speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.


A friend of mine converted a Cal 2-30 (an earlier boat) when he sold
it. Nobody considered it an improvement. I would want a lot more
specifics about the financial benefits from the sailing club before I
would do such a thing.

A tiller pilot big enough for that boat is a lot cheaper. Our boat
came with wheel steering only, and it is not bad, but it cost a lot
more than $1500.






Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Accordions don't play 'Lady of Spain.' People play 'Lady of Spain."

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 08:24:13 -0600, Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one
of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking and
light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger Cal
(33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not very
speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.


A friend of mine converted a Cal 2-30 (an earlier boat) when he sold
it. Nobody considered it an improvement. I would want a lot more
specifics about the financial benefits from the sailing club before I
would do such a thing.

A tiller pilot big enough for that boat is a lot cheaper. Our boat
came with wheel steering only, and it is not bad, but it cost a lot
more than $1500.






Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Accordions don't play 'Lady of Spain.' People play 'Lady of Spain."

Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one
of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking and
light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger Cal
(33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not very
speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.

Thanks,
Jim Cate


I built a wheel steering rig from scraps, it worked well on my '67
HR28, "The Penney Louise".

I had the rudder head on the sole in the rear of the cockpit, any
other plan would need a different approach, but this worked for me
and cost about 50 bucks for wood, aircraft steel wire cable, clamps,
etc.

I built a deck about 5" high using verola mahogany door jamb to
raise the back 3' of cockpit sole and hide the modifications. The
planks ran fore and aft, critical to this setup. I fitted a 2 X 6"
bridge deck at the same level as the seat tops, fastening it with
screws through the seat locker sides. I later veneered it with
mahogany for appearance. Next time, I'll just use black paint, and
leave the sewer pipe proud black, to boot.

The sewer pipe ran through a hole in the bridge deck, and was
secured with 2 ss screws.

I removed the tiller from the rudder head fitting, and replaced it
with a telescoping tube tiller made from ss tube 1" and 7/8"
diameter about a foot long eye bolted to a piece of wood to fit the
tiller head jaws. I plugged the end with a piece of mop handle,
secured with a screw and screwed an eye bolt into the plug. Cable
was led using small shackles and crimp on wire ends from the new
tiller's eye to the sides of the cockpit lockers where I fixed
little plastic pullies salvaged from a cheap 8 part tackle (sold
many years ago at Canada Tire) onto adjustable eye bolts and
stainless strap ears with the tension adjustments inside the quarter
berths. Rubber gaskets stopped leaks. Maximum rudder angle was about
45 degrees either side, plenty. The end of the extended telescoping
tiller just about hit the sides of the cockpit, the way the pulleys
were arranged.

The cables turned foreward and inward, to meet under the open end of
a piece of black plastic drainage pipe stuffed into holes in the
bridge deck and raised deck with similar pulleys mounted in bent
aluminium brackets inside the drain tube that incorperated a tab
which was attached to the cockpit sole with a wing nut on a stud
bolted through the sole from underneath. The telescoping tiller was
retracted by a piece of bungee to ensure it did not foul the pulleys
under the steering post. It didn't really need no steenkin' wing
nut, just a stud to sit on, or maybe even not that.

An old electric motor rotor with long ends (from an electric
radiator double squirrel cage fan) with the centre section turned
down a little to about 2" diameter formed the steering wheel axel
and cable reel. It sat in notches cut into a drainage pipe adapter
fitting using a weller soldering iron at the doubled part where it
was glued together with PVC cement. The motor rotor had cooling
holes just the size of the wire (1/8") in it that were used to
anchor the cables. The cable ends were siezed in cable clamps, which
permitted coarse adjustments.

Expanders and reducers glued up made a binnacle, in which the
compass sat. The bottom of the binnacle trapped the top of the wheel
axel. The binnacle was secured with screws to the top of the sewer
pipe. The compass was retained by, are you ready for it? Duct tape,
neatly trimmed. The twisted compass lamp leads plugged in to an rca
phone connector, to enable removal, seldom done. A modesty shield
made from cut up rubber inner tube lashed in place made it look neat
and nautical where the axel and steering brake assembly were
otherwise exposed. It also provided spray protection. An oil filter
wrench was modified to sieze a small pulley on the wheel axel to
lock the wheel temporarily. That pulley would have taken an
autopilot belt.

I made a wheel to fit the motor shaft from an aluminium motor pulley
with 5 copper tube spokes set and faired with rivets and epoxy. The
rim was soft copper sections all soldered together with 't'
fittings, about 24" in diameter, just comfy for me.

The engine controls were unmodified in the cockpit well, I was
thinking about mounting them on the post, but decided against it for
emergency reasons.

I considered filling the copper rim with glass and epoxy before
soldering it all up, but never became convinced that it was
neccessary. The wheel and rig held up for 2 years, until vandals
burned "that crazy old guy's boat."

It was strong enough to lean on, and I did try to kick it to death,
but it held up OK. I left the copper exposed to age. With a little
varnish and paint, altogether it looked OK, and for 50 bucks?

I raised the helm seat with 2 fenders tied together - comfy! Now, I
could see over the coach roof while sitting to steer, and I was
riding on air suspension, leaning on the traveller and mainsheet.

It worked out to about 3 turns lock to lock, and felt good to use,
very precise. It was especially satisfying to stand facing backwards
to steer the boat in reverse. As I had a balanced spade rudder, it
tended to pin the steering one side or another in reverse. The
steering load was almost nothing, even with bad sail trim. How well
balanced is your rudder?

The deck and steering post could be removed and the original tiller
re-installed in about 2 minutes, without tools, so long as the
tiller jaw bolts were acceptable without tightening with a wrench.

A piece of heavy string tied between the planks of the steering deck
made lifting it back end first easy. It was cut so it could be
lifted without interfering with the steering post to give access to
the innards (underds?). The bridge deck was fixed using only 2
screws, so it could be easily pivoted foreward, post and all, out of
the way for the emergency tiller. Pushball lock pins were
considered, but never installed. A bridging skirt piece at the front
of the steering deck was screwed in from the sides, and remained to
secure the interlocking assembly. As long as the deck sat where it
should, everyhing else was locked in place by geometry.

Afterwards, I thought that a small hole over the rudder head would
indicate rudder angle, but with a turk's head on the wheel, it's
position was never suspect.

Sounds hokey? Worked good, looked good, was a fine talking point,
and a proud achievement for 50 bucks. I showed it off at every
opportunity. In salt, it would have needed more paint and tlc than
it did. As it was in fresh water, the maintenence was zippo, except
for a dab of grease on the wheel axel, to enable annual dissassembly
for inspection without anything more than a set screw key. The gold
platers stayed away in droves, I just wouldn't shut up.

Good luck!

Terry K

Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with one
of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking and
light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger Cal
(33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not very
speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.

Thanks,
Jim Cate


I built a wheel steering rig from scraps, it worked well on my '67
HR28, "The Penney Louise".

I had the rudder head on the sole in the rear of the cockpit, any
other plan would need a different approach, but this worked for me
and cost about 50 bucks for wood, aircraft steel wire cable, clamps,
etc.

I built a deck about 5" high using verola mahogany door jamb to
raise the back 3' of cockpit sole and hide the modifications. The
planks ran fore and aft, critical to this setup. I fitted a 2 X 6"
bridge deck at the same level as the seat tops, fastening it with
screws through the seat locker sides. I later veneered it with
mahogany for appearance. Next time, I'll just use black paint, and
leave the sewer pipe proud black, to boot.

The sewer pipe ran through a hole in the bridge deck, and was
secured with 2 ss screws.

I removed the tiller from the rudder head fitting, and replaced it
with a telescoping tube tiller made from ss tube 1" and 7/8"
diameter about a foot long eye bolted to a piece of wood to fit the
tiller head jaws. I plugged the end with a piece of mop handle,
secured with a screw and screwed an eye bolt into the plug. Cable
was led using small shackles and crimp on wire ends from the new
tiller's eye to the sides of the cockpit lockers where I fixed
little plastic pullies salvaged from a cheap 8 part tackle (sold
many years ago at Canada Tire) onto adjustable eye bolts and
stainless strap ears with the tension adjustments inside the quarter
berths. Rubber gaskets stopped leaks. Maximum rudder angle was about
45 degrees either side, plenty. The end of the extended telescoping
tiller just about hit the sides of the cockpit, the way the pulleys
were arranged.

The cables turned foreward and inward, to meet under the open end of
a piece of black plastic drainage pipe stuffed into holes in the
bridge deck and raised deck with similar pulleys mounted in bent
aluminium brackets inside the drain tube that incorperated a tab
which was attached to the cockpit sole with a wing nut on a stud
bolted through the sole from underneath. The telescoping tiller was
retracted by a piece of bungee to ensure it did not foul the pulleys
under the steering post. It didn't really need no steenkin' wing
nut, just a stud to sit on, or maybe even not that.

An old electric motor rotor with long ends (from an electric
radiator double squirrel cage fan) with the centre section turned
down a little to about 2" diameter formed the steering wheel axel
and cable reel. It sat in notches cut into a drainage pipe adapter
fitting using a weller soldering iron at the doubled part where it
was glued together with PVC cement. The motor rotor had cooling
holes just the size of the wire (1/8") in it that were used to
anchor the cables. The cable ends were siezed in cable clamps, which
permitted coarse adjustments.

Expanders and reducers glued up made a binnacle, in which the
compass sat. The bottom of the binnacle trapped the top of the wheel
axel. The binnacle was secured with screws to the top of the sewer
pipe. The compass was retained by, are you ready for it? Duct tape,
neatly trimmed. The twisted compass lamp leads plugged in to an rca
phone connector, to enable removal, seldom done. A modesty shield
made from cut up rubber inner tube lashed in place made it look neat
and nautical where the axel and steering brake assembly were
otherwise exposed. It also provided spray protection. An oil filter
wrench was modified to sieze a small pulley on the wheel axel to
lock the wheel temporarily. That pulley would have taken an
autopilot belt.

I made a wheel to fit the motor shaft from an aluminium motor pulley
with 5 copper tube spokes set and faired with rivets and epoxy. The
rim was soft copper sections all soldered together with 't'
fittings, about 24" in diameter, just comfy for me.

The engine controls were unmodified in the cockpit well, I was
thinking about mounting them on the post, but decided against it for
emergency reasons.

I considered filling the copper rim with glass and epoxy before
soldering it all up, but never became convinced that it was
neccessary. The wheel and rig held up for 2 years, until vandals
burned "that crazy old guy's boat."

It was strong enough to lean on, and I did try to kick it to death,
but it held up OK. I left the copper exposed to age. With a little
varnish and paint, altogether it looked OK, and for 50 bucks?

I raised the helm seat with 2 fenders tied together - comfy! Now, I
could see over the coach roof while sitting to steer, and I was
riding on air suspension, leaning on the traveller and mainsheet.

It worked out to about 3 turns lock to lock, and felt good to use,
very precise. It was especially satisfying to stand facing backwards
to steer the boat in reverse. As I had a balanced spade rudder, it
tended to pin the steering one side or another in reverse. The
steering load was almost nothing, even with bad sail trim. How well
balanced is your rudder?

The deck and steering post could be removed and the original tiller
re-installed in about 2 minutes, without tools, so long as the
tiller jaw bolts were acceptable without tightening with a wrench.

A piece of heavy string tied between the planks of the steering deck
made lifting it back end first easy. It was cut so it could be
lifted without interfering with the steering post to give access to
the innards (underds?). The bridge deck was fixed using only 2
screws, so it could be easily pivoted foreward, post and all, out of
the way for the emergency tiller. Pushball lock pins were
considered, but never installed. A bridging skirt piece at the front
of the steering deck was screwed in from the sides, and remained to
secure the interlocking assembly. As long as the deck sat where it
should, everyhing else was locked in place by geometry.

Afterwards, I thought that a small hole over the rudder head would
indicate rudder angle, but with a turk's head on the wheel, it's
position was never suspect.

Sounds hokey? Worked good, looked good, was a fine talking point,
and a proud achievement for 50 bucks. I showed it off at every
opportunity. In salt, it would have needed more paint and tlc than
it did. As it was in fresh water, the maintenence was zippo, except
for a dab of grease on the wheel axel, to enable annual dissassembly
for inspection without anything more than a set screw key. The gold
platers stayed away in droves, I just wouldn't shut up.

Good luck!

Terry K

Thanks for your note Terry. - Your note provides good evidence that I
need to find someone who will do the job for me at a reasonable price,
and that I shouldn't try to do the work myself. - That's valuable
information.


Jim

Terry Spragg wrote:
Jim Cate wrote:


I am considering a 1982 Cal 30 for bay and coastal cruising near the
Houston - Galveston area. The plan would be to leave the boat with
one of the local charter sail organizations that would provide docking
and light maintenance of the boat. They indicated that they would
anticipate good rentals for such a boat, assuming that it is surveyed
and shown to be in good condition, but they would not accept it unless
the existing tiller steering mechanism can be converted to wheel
steering. - They tell me that there are shops in the area who can do
such work for around $1,000 to $1,500.

Does anyone have any experience or information concerning such a
conversion? Someone suggested that Cal, or another marine equipment
source, may be able to provide a kit of necessary components for
installing the wheel. I would also be interested in any comments from
those with experience re the Cal 30. I have sailed a somewhat larger
Cal (33?) and was impressed with it as a stable though perhaps not
very speedy boat, suitable for "near-shore" blue water sailing.

Thanks,
Jim Cate


I built a wheel steering rig from scraps, it worked well on my '67
HR28, "The Penney Louise".

I had the rudder head on the sole in the rear of the cockpit, any
other plan would need a different approach, but this worked for me
and cost about 50 bucks for wood, aircraft steel wire cable, clamps,
etc.

I built a deck about 5" high using verola mahogany door jamb to
raise the back 3' of cockpit sole and hide the modifications. The
planks ran fore and aft, critical to this setup. I fitted a 2 X 6"
bridge deck at the same level as the seat tops, fastening it with
screws through the seat locker sides. I later veneered it with
mahogany for appearance. Next time, I'll just use black paint, and
leave the sewer pipe proud black, to boot.

The sewer pipe ran through a hole in the bridge deck, and was
secured with 2 ss screws.

I removed the tiller from the rudder head fitting, and replaced it
with a telescoping tube tiller made from ss tube 1" and 7/8"
diameter about a foot long eye bolted to a piece of wood to fit the
tiller head jaws. I plugged the end with a piece of mop handle,
secured with a screw and screwed an eye bolt into the plug. Cable
was led using small shackles and crimp on wire ends from the new
tiller's eye to the sides of the cockpit lockers where I fixed
little plastic pullies salvaged from a cheap 8 part tackle (sold
many years ago at Canada Tire) onto adjustable eye bolts and
stainless strap ears with the tension adjustments inside the quarter
berths. Rubber gaskets stopped leaks. Maximum rudder angle was about
45 degrees either side, plenty. The end of the extended telescoping
tiller just about hit the sides of the cockpit, the way the pulleys
were arranged.

The cables turned foreward and inward, to meet under the open end of
a piece of black plastic drainage pipe stuffed into holes in the
bridge deck and raised deck with similar pulleys mounted in bent
aluminium brackets inside the drain tube that incorperated a tab
which was attached to the cockpit sole with a wing nut on a stud
bolted through the sole from underneath. The telescoping tiller was
retracted by a piece of bungee to ensure it did not foul the pulleys
under the steering post. It didn't really need no steenkin' wing
nut, just a stud to sit on, or maybe even not that.

An old electric motor rotor with long ends (from an electric
radiator double squirrel cage fan) with the centre section turned
down a little to about 2" diameter formed the steering wheel axel
and cable reel. It sat in notches cut into a drainage pipe adapter
fitting using a weller soldering iron at the doubled part where it
was glued together with PVC cement. The motor rotor had cooling
holes just the size of the wire (1/8") in it that were used to
anchor the cables. The cable ends were siezed in cable clamps, which
permitted coarse adjustments.

Expanders and reducers glued up made a binnacle, in which the
compass sat. The bottom of the binnacle trapped the top of the wheel
axel. The binnacle was secured with screws to the top of the sewer
pipe. The compass was retained by, are you ready for it? Duct tape,
neatly trimmed. The twisted compass lamp leads plugged in to an rca
phone connector, to enable removal, seldom done. A modesty shield
made from cut up rubber inner tube lashed in place made it look neat
and nautical where the axel and steering brake assembly were
otherwise exposed. It also provided spray protection. An oil filter
wrench was modified to sieze a small pulley on the wheel axel to
lock the wheel temporarily. That pulley would have taken an
autopilot belt.

I made a wheel to fit the motor shaft from an aluminium motor pulley
with 5 copper tube spokes set and faired with rivets and epoxy. The
rim was soft copper sections all soldered together with 't'
fittings, about 24" in diameter, just comfy for me.

The engine controls were unmodified in the cockpit well, I was
thinking about mounting them on the post, but decided against it for
emergency reasons.

I considered filling the copper rim with glass and epoxy before
soldering it all up, but never became convinced that it was
neccessary. The wheel and rig held up for 2 years, until vandals
burned "that crazy old guy's boat."

It was strong enough to lean on, and I did try to kick it to death,
but it held up OK. I left the copper exposed to age. With a little
varnish and paint, altogether it looked OK, and for 50 bucks?

I raised the helm seat with 2 fenders tied together - comfy! Now, I
could see over the coach roof while sitting to steer, and I was
riding on air suspension, leaning on the traveller and mainsheet.

It worked out to about 3 turns lock to lock, and felt good to use,
very precise. It was especially satisfying to stand facing backwards
to steer the boat in reverse. As I had a balanced spade rudder, it
tended to pin the steering one side or another in reverse. The
steering load was almost nothing, even with bad sail trim. How well
balanced is your rudder?

The deck and steering post could be removed and the original tiller
re-installed in about 2 minutes, without tools, so long as the
tiller jaw bolts were acceptable without tightening with a wrench.

A piece of heavy string tied between the planks of the steering deck
made lifting it back end first easy. It was cut so it could be
lifted without interfering with the steering post to give access to
the innards (underds?). The bridge deck was fixed using only 2
screws, so it could be easily pivoted foreward, post and all, out of
the way for the emergency tiller. Pushball lock pins were
considered, but never installed. A bridging skirt piece at the front
of the steering deck was screwed in from the sides, and remained to
secure the interlocking assembly. As long as the deck sat where it
should, everyhing else was locked in place by geometry.

Afterwards, I thought that a small hole over the rudder head would
indicate rudder angle, but with a turk's head on the wheel, it's
position was never suspect.

Sounds hokey? Worked good, looked good, was a fine talking point,
and a proud achievement for 50 bucks. I showed it off at every
opportunity. In salt, it would have needed more paint and tlc than
it did. As it was in fresh water, the maintenence was zippo, except
for a dab of grease on the wheel axel, to enable annual dissassembly
for inspection without anything more than a set screw key. The gold
platers stayed away in droves, I just wouldn't shut up.

Good luck!

Terry K