There should be a key in the bag for the emergency tiller

Just to help in your looking, the one I have is a piece of V-shaped rod about 1/8" or so thick. The length of each side of the V is about 6".

Mike

We don't have one of those V things on our boat, I expect a PO maybe lost it? I use a stick of oak held horizontal to the floor and catch an edge of one of the holes then tap it with a hammer a few times until it moves then it spins open by hand. Same when I close it.

This is something everyone should locate and try it. Do not wait till something happens. Our friends 36 broke the cable on the steering last year in the Bahamas and they learned the hard way. They had a wheel autopilot but that was not of use. It they had a under deck autopilot they could have used that for steering. The short section of pipe that you get to steer with has very little leverage.

Randy beat me to it...

While you are familiarizing yourself with the emergency tiller, I would highly recommend inspecting the steering cable. Or, if you already have the compass off the binalce, look down and inspect the cable/chain swage when the wheel is hard over to each side.

The hard rudder stops on my boat were set a just a point where the swage from cable to chain hits the gear/sprocket in the pedestal. Over the years, this caused the cable to chafe on the sprocket and it eventually failed causing us to need the tiller. The force required to turn the rudder by tiller while sailing or motoring is not a position you want to be in. It takes a lot of strength.

Fortunately I have a linear (below deck) autopilot to help steer/buy time to install the tiller and we used the AP until the last turn into the slip. If we had a wheel drive unit, the AP would be useless in the event of a steering cable break.

I can't overemphasize how difficult it is to steer the boat with the emergency tiller. It consists of a long pipe with holes at the top. It comes with a rod that you insert in the holes and then you steer with the rod. There is no mechanical advantage to speak of and steering is very difficult. I had a 3 hour experience under power using it after my steering cable broke and my crew consisted of two reasonably able men. The pressure of the prop wash against the rudder meant that we had to steer against it and that took a lot of strength just to make the boat go straight. I decided to get a longer rod for more mechanical advantage but have to admit that even though 3 years have elapsed since the incident, I haven't yet done so.

[QUOTE=Elliott S. Milstein;15266]I can't overemphasize how difficult it is to steer the boat with the emergency tiller. It consists of a long pipe with holes at the top. It comes with a rod that you insert in the holes and then you steer with the rod. There is no mechanical advantage to speak of and steering is very difficult. I had a 3 hour experience under power using it after my steering cable broke and my crew consisted of two reasonably able men. The pressure of the prop wash against the rudder meant that we had to steer against it and that took a lot of strength just to make the boat go straight. I decided to get a longer rod for more mechanical advantage but have to admit that even though 3 years have elapsed since the incident, I haven't yet done so.[/QUOTE]

100% agree. When my steering cables broke, I only had to power about 5 miles back to my slip. There was a chop running on the beam; I had to keep speed below about 4 knots, or the bow would get off to one side or the other and I could barely bring it back. I took apart one of my aluminum dingy oars and stuck it on the rod for the emergency tiller to give me some leverage, or I don't think I've had made it. I was exhausted when we got back to the cove and I could anchor. Would not like to repeat it.

Rick,

Yes it will steer the boat in case of a cable failure assuming that nothing gets fouled.

Linear Drive units attach to the rudder quadrant directly and have no reliance on the cable assembly (or wheel for that matter) for turning the rudder.

In contrast, wheel drive units are completely reliant on the steering cable/wheel to turn the rudder.

You should validate this on your boat's specific installation by inspecting how your AP is installed. If you look down through one of the aft lockers it should be very clear on how it works.