Project ST5000: Rudder transducer is solid

Ray needs a permanent, solid attachment to the rudder quadrant in order to know exactly where the rudder is.  Although it served for initial sea trials and feasibility testing, the string arrangement will never do for a permanent installation.

I cut a piece of the aluminum angle, carefully measured and trimmed so that it fit tightly inside the tapered space under the top flanges of the quadrant, right at the correct spot. This was not exactly easy, and involved many trials with folded paper.

Then to hold it in place, I cut off two more pieces of angle, 1" long. On each of these pieces, I trimmed one leg to 3/16", the thickness of the bronze casting flange of the quadrant.  These were to serve as the clamps, to be held in place with the 1" 1/4-20 stainless bolts, fender washers and nylock nuts.  For the piece d'resistance, I applied a dab of 5200 to the top of each end of the aluminum angle before installing.  I think this is going to stay in place.  And it avoids weakening the bronze quadrant casting by drilling holes in it.

The aluminum angle got an 11/32" hole bored in the exact center to take the ball bolt.  (By the way, if you ever need any replacement parts for your rudder transducer, these are the 10mm rod ends and ball bolts that are used with gas struts.  Search for them that way.)

Finally, I measured the amount of the M6 all-thread needed (the distance between the ends of the black nylon rod ends, plus the distance that the rod screws into one of the rod ends.  This way, I am left with the approximately 10mm length of the threaded part  at the other rod end for possible adjustment).  I cut the stainless all-thread to this length.

Installed with a lock nut and washer at each end, and voilà, Ray gets a solid, repeatable, linear report of rudder position!

Project ST5000: Rudder transducer is solid

(not) Marine stores: Tacoma Screw

One of my favorite marine stores is not a marine store at all.

But if you ever need any kind of stainless fastener, there is an excellent chance that Tacoma Screw will have it, no matter how weird or strange it might be.

I stopped in to their Frellard (between Fremont and Ballard) store Monday morning to get the parts I needed to hook up Ray's rudder transducer properly.

Here they are - Marty was able to find everything off the shelf:

• 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle
• M6 stainless all thread
• 2 M6 stainless nuts
• 2 M6 stainless washers
• 2 5/16-18 stainless nuts
• 2 1" 1/4-20 stainless bolts
• 2 1/4-20 stainless nylock nuts
• 2 1/4 stainless fender washers

(For things other than fasteners, Ballard Hardware is my first stop.  But that's a story for another time...)

(not) Marine stores: Tacoma Screw

Hot damn, he's good!

Please welcome our newest crew member: Ray!

Ray steered us tirelessly all over Puget Sound this weekend - doing a much better job than I could have done myself.

In this photo, Ray is helming us across from Shilshole to Port Madison, basically straight west on a compass course of 280° (as always, if you click on the photo, you can see a full-sized version). You can see that in the fierce tidal cross-current, Ray has decided that to get us to follow the desired 280° course, he needs to actually steer 266°. He did this all on his own - I didn't have to prompt him in any way.

Further, he is maintaining that desired course while holding us within 7 feet of our desired track. I am not embarrassed to say that I could not do that, except possibly for a transitory instant.

Ray does not become tired, nor is he distracted by events in the cockpit, or on the water.  Otto, our previous autopilot, would not only get distracted when we crossed a big wake - he would loose his freakin' mind, running the wheel from one stop to the other.  Ray takes it all coolly in stride.

Finally, Ray steers with finesse.  Otto would turn the wheel a minimum of 1/8 of a turn each time he decided that a course correction was required.  Of course, that meant that we zigzagged back and forth over the desired course, never actually settling on it.  As for the track?  Well Otto professed to not know anything about this thing called 'track'.  All he would do is steer a direction.  Poorly.

On the other hand, our new steersman can make the most minute corrections to the rudder position... he actually can accept and properly respond to course correction requests of 1°.

I guess it is time to grant Ray a permanent berth on Eolian.  No more just hanging on his wires in the cockpit - he needs a proper, permanent mount.  The UHMW polyethylene sheeting to make it is on order.

And he also needs a better report of the rudder position.  Tho the glassed in foam block/plywood mount for the transducer is solid, the bailing wire and string setup connecting it to the rudder quadrant needs to be replaced with a real, solid connection.

He has earned it.

Welcome aboard, Ray!

Hot damn, he's good!

How to make a line fast to a cleat

Picture this:

You've just done a masterful job of putting your boat up against the dock, perhaps executing the perfect Captain Ron turn.  Now you need to keep her there, using your dock lines. What do you do?

(This will not be a discussion of breast lines, spring lines, etc...  we'll save that for another time)

Whatever the configuration of dock lines you use, it will be necessary to make the lines fast to cleats on the dock (or perhaps the boat).  How do you do that?

Here's what we do on Eolian:

Around the far end

First, lead the line around the horn of the cleat that is away from the direction of pull.  In the picture above, that is the top horn. 

Over the top

Next, lead the line around the other horn, and then cross over the top of the cleat.

Under and over again

Now lead the line under the far horn again. Because you did the cross-over, you will now be going in the opposite direction, compared to your first pass under this horn.  Cross over the top yet again.

Yes.

Now the final step, which seems to be where many people go astray.  Make a loop of line with the tail on the under side.  Pass the loop over the horn closest to the load and snug it up.  There are two ways to do this - only one is correct...  this is the one which results in the line laying parallel to the first pass over the top of the cleat and under the second pass, as in the picture above.

No.

If you make the loop the wrong way, you'll get a knot that looks like this. It's ugly.  And I believe that this is one of those times when ugly = bad.  Since there is considerably less contact between passing turns of line in the ugly knot, there is less friction... and it is friction which keeps the knot tied.

More knots are not necessary.  Eolian has spent many, many winters tied to the dock just like this.  Never once has a dock line loosened.  However:

• If you are preparing for a hurricane, you'll want more knots... and more lines!
• If the dock line is unusually slippery and/or the cleat is polished, you may need to double the knot
• If the dock line is very small for the size of the cleat (say, a dinghy painter), you might add a second knot

If you choose to add a second knot, follow the same pattern:  have the tail come out on the under side so that it lies parallel to the previous passing turn.  You'll know when you get it right.

Now that the line is made fast, what do you do with the extra?  When we first moved out to Shilshole, we flemished our dock line tails like this:

Otter target

However we discovered that this provided the ideal target for the otters who live under the dock to dump their daily loads of crushed and undigested mussel shells.  Who knows how the mind of an otter works?

Hard centered target

Now, we just wrap the tail around the cleat. Yes, this is still perceived by the otters as a target, and we occasionally get anointed.  But apparently the hard center is less comfortable to tender otter exhaust ports than the soft, flat flemish coil.

Don't just leave the tails laying on the dock.  Aside from the obvious tripping hazard, the otters will gather them up into a pile and then anoint the pile.

The best arrangement is if someone else has made flemish coils nearby...

How to make a line fast to a cleat