Crossing the Gulf Stream with No Steering

[SteveM]

I thought I would post some info to the site with the thought that it may assist another person down the line.

Last Friday, May 13th we cast off from Hope Town, Bahamas en route to West End, Bahamas for the night.
Then cross to Lake Worth Inlet (Palm Beach, FL) on Saturday morning.

Although Friday the 13th is supposed to be un-lucky, I think we were actually quite lucky for a few reasons.
1. The hydraulic steering did not bust while we were underway. The boat was at rest.
2. We were in glassy calm waters of about 12' deep. Gin clear to dive under and set the rudders.
3. The winds were to be calm for two days.
4. I had "one bar" on my cell phone reception. That's like one call from jail. (I called Bruce with my last quarter)

The culprit was a bad ferrule inside a brass nut that connects the plastic tubing in the steering system.
The black plastic tubing backed out under too much pressure.
We are guessing too much pressure was supplied when I brought the boat down idle/neutral in order for "the Admiral" to pee off the transom.
In the past when I have brought the boat down to neutral the auto pilot loses it's mind. I forgot to set it into STANDBY. I won't forget to do that in the future.
When we tried to get going the boat spun in circles, then we heard a POP, the tube ejecting.
After trying to put the nut and bad ferrule back together for an hour or so and any other band aid idea to get it to stay on, it just would not stay under pressure when we tried to re-engage.

We are anchored under Great Sale Cay. Which we always have called No Man's Land. It's barren and pretty much the most remote spot on the journey to or from Abaco. My wife is now saying things like, "Why don't we have a gun on board? When we get back we are taking your dad's automatic rifle he offered us!"
I"m thinking if we don't fix this, we toss out the anchor and sleep here till we figure this out. That's not what she was thinking!
I had 5% battery on my cell phone and one "bar" (miracle out there actually)...So I used my one call on Bruce. He reminded me how to tie the rudders straight and "that'll get you home". I recalled reading this on the forum in the past. (Hint: Donate to this forum) In 5 minutes I had the rudders straight and we were off and running to West End. We got there by dinner time, rested and the next day we crossed the Gulf Stream to Florida.

We ran 100+ miles using the throttles as our method of steering. If you get rudders perfectly straight it's quite easy to operate. The toughest part was at Peanut Island. There are some jackasses there on the weekend. Slow and steady, and I got to finally use my big set of horns on one guy asleep at the helm.

Good part is, I could do this again quickly.

I plan to mark the cross bar between the rudders at dead center. This will keep me from having to dive overboard to look at the rudders in the future. If we were in big seas in the Gulf Stream that would not have been fun.

And I will carry some extra parts for the steering system now as well.

Pics below.

Thanks Bruce. Thanks Patrick for this site.

The nut and ferrule:


The plastic tube that backed out.


Ropes tied to 90 degree arm on each rudder. (Also tied one to the center as well later on)


Back in FL at Grandpop's dock. Proud family/crew:


First Leg of SPoT tracks:


Second Leg of SPoT tracks:


Third Leg of SPoT tracks:

[Dug]

It's always something, isn't it! Nice work!!!!

[Tommy]

Steve, thanks for sharing as it's nothing like learning from experiences of guys on this Board. Your "one call" from "breakdown jail" was well-placed as Bruce has bailed many of us out over the years. What a great ending to a very stressful and potentially dangerous situation. Bruce also bailed me out when I lost steering on Island Girl when a hose burst. It was nothing like your situation being in the Bahama boondocks as I was just a few miles from my dock and Bruce was ON BOARD! He pulled the hatches and managed to get the rudders straight and like you I ran home steering with the throttles. Once home he pulled the failed hose and we found a shop to make up a new one and he had me up and running in short order. As you stated, support this site because the benefits are immeasureable! I hope your bride hasn't lost her love of boating.

[Rawleigh]

Good post. Glad it worked out for you. I had something similar happen two years ago on a friend's 30' Scarab center console during a fishing tournament, except we had a hole in a hose. Maneuvering around the dock trying to make weigh in was interesting! Maybe we should all add some ratchet straps to the tool kit for just such a situation.

[mike ohlstein]

Awesome.

Sunken plane? World War II ?

[Rocket]

Steven, you probably don't have trim tabs, but on my 25 with trim tabs I lost my steering in a fairly remote area and found that I was able to continue my week long holiday by using the tabs at high speeds and the throttle and gears at low speeds. I never use the steering while docking or low speed maneuvering anyway.

[Dug]

Secondarily, I am completely with Mike on this. Plane? Story?

[SteveM]

Mike,
It's a Jet Engine my dad discovered about 30 years ago. I went to find it for kicks. It's a small reef now. Not sure what era. Just the engine, no structures other than that. Middle of nowhere...odd. I wonder if it fell off a plane in the air...or rolled off the deck of a boat. Probably the air. Any boat large enough to carry major cargo would not take this route, too shallow. They go on the outside in the ocean, not the bank.

Rocket,
I do have trim tabs..although they are not operational, they are set flat and don't move. However, after running two days on throttles. I have gotten pretty good at it. And I will use that new talent in the future more often.

Tommy,
On my way out the door today I checked with Melissa.
Me: "So, are you still OK with boating?"
Her sarcastic reply: "######, I could have done that without you boys all by myself! LOL"
(I may take her up on the idea of grabbing my dad's semi automatic rifle for the future)

[Tommy]

Melissa sounds like a great sport; I say you hold on to her and the 31!

[IRGuy]

Thanks for the post!

This just goes to show you that you can learn something new no matter how experienced you are. I have often wondered how I would respond if a boat I was on lost steering. Glad you and yours made it back OK.

[Tony Meola]

Steve

You must have been trying to copy Richard Bertram. Old story about him loosing steering coming in an inlet and no one on board knew until he told them later on.

Now, how about details as how Bruce told you to get the rudders straight. I gather you had to disconnect everything and move them until they were straight.

[SteveM]

Tony,

It's real simple actually.
Disconnect the tubing to the RAM to release any remaining pressure. This will free up the rudders and they will swing easy left/right. We opted to go straight to the RAM. On our there were two tubes, which we disconnected with a small crescent wrench. The fluid poured into the bilge from the tubing and the rudders were now able to move freely. You can reach behind each shaft and find the 90 degree bar that connects to the horizontal cross bar which connects both rudders. The 90 degree bar should be pointing straight North or 12 o clock on both rudders. I slipped a rope around this 90 degree arm. I chose the loop end of the rope for this task and cinched them tight without having to rely on my knot tying skills. I then simply pulled it very tight and cleated the rope to the stern cleat. (repeat for each side). Just for security sake, I did this twice; two ropes each side. I also did one off the center of the cross bar. It may have been overkill with so many ropes, but I had a long way to go and wanted to gitty up. I was able to run at regular cruising speeds with ease. 21-25 knots no problem. I dare say that handling may even be more precise with this method than a steering wheel.

[Tony Meola]

Tony,

It's real simple actually.
Disconnect the tubing to the RAM to release any remaining pressure. This will free up the rudders and they will swing easy left/right. We opted to go straight to the RAM. On our there were two tubes, which we disconnected with a small crescent wrench. The fluid poured into the bilge from the tubing and the rudders were now able to move freely. You can reach behind each shaft and find the 90 degree bar that connects to the horizontal cross bar which connects both rudders. The 90 degree bar should be pointing straight North or 12 o clock on both rudders. I slipped a rope around this 90 degree arm. I chose the loop end of the rope for this task and cinched them tight without having to rely on my knot tying skills. I then simply pulled it very tight and cleated the rope to the stern cleat. (repeat for each side). Just for security sake, I did this twice; two ropes each side. I also did one off the center of the cross bar. It may have been overkill with so many ropes, but I had a long way to go and wanted to gitty up. I was able to run at regular cruising speeds with ease. 21-25 knots no problem. I dare say that handling may even be more precise with this method than a steering wheel.

Steve

Thanks

[Amberjack]

Steve--

Why did you have to tie off the rudder arms to maintain straight ahead position? Wouldn't relieving pressure to the ram allow the rudders to simply weathervane behind the props?

[SteveM]

Doug,

That may hold true at slow speeds.

However, I doubt it would be good practice up on a plane. I was able to run top speeds and keep a straight track with little or no effort. Practically easier than normal steering actually.

[Amberjack]

OK that makes sense and thanks for putting this up on the forum. It would have taken me an awfully long time to figure out to disconnect the ram from the Hynautic steering system.

[SteveM]

Just re-fueled after that trip. We burned 123 gallons total over 207 miles; which is 1.68 miles per gallon. Average speed was around 22 or 23 knots.
My last leg of the trip, I re adjusted the rudders and re tied them. I got it perfect so I could run both engines at the same RPM.
The 2nd leg of the trip I was running the starboard at 3000 rpm and port was 2000 in order to keep it straight. In hind sight I should have re-adjusted rudders right away.
My point is, I am happy to have gotten this fuel efficiency, and speed in a crippled scenario.
I'm convinced that the hull design, deep V, the oversized rudders, and big four blade props enabled us to operate so well in this situation.

[Amberjack]

My last leg of the trip, I re adjusted the rudders and re tied them. I got it perfect so I could run both engines at the same RPM.
The 2nd leg of the trip I was running the starboard at 3000 rpm and port was 2000 in order to keep it straight. In hind sight I should have re-adjusted rudders right away.

I have the same steering and it has always looked like a potential failure point to me. When I have a couple minutes I'll center the rudders while underway and measure a pair of pre-cut struts to store in the lazarette.