A Photo & Discussion Forum for Wharram Design Enthusiasts
Rudder Damage on Swinging Mooring
My Tiki 21 is on a swinging mooring which dries on springs. One rudder was damaged and I had planned to replace both soon. I now discover that one rudder has been broken near to top whilst moored.
Has anyone else come across this sort of a problem?
The main cause is a weak rudder. What seems to have happened is the boat has dragged sideways due to wind or tide when it was just floating. I think one tiller might have been snagging the hatch. This would cause the tiller to be twisted, and it then perhaps broke.
I guess it would be best if the tillers were on shock cord (not tied) when moored to allow the rudders to move if needs be.
Any comments and experience would be appreciated.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robert Hughes on
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I used a drying swinging mooring, and also anchored many times but didn't have any problems with this sort of damage. By the time the boat floated the rudder was well clear of the bottom. Having said that I did use bungees to hold the tiller bar central. Are you sure yours didn't get hit by something when you weren't there?
I did have one incident that could potentially have caused rudder damage but didn't. We were anchored overnight in a strong wind & tide situation. We dried out ok but when the water came back the wind and tide were against each other and we over-rode the anchor line before we had much depth of water. The line ran between the hulls then off at an angle pressing hard on one rudder. Pushing the line down with a boat hook sorted it out. When my boat goes back in the water I'm going to try using an angel (a lead weight fixed a short way down the anchor line) to prevent that sort of thing happening again.
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Permalink Reply by Ian Bamsey on
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Thanks for your help Robert. I'm beginning to think the problem was mainly due to the weak rudder which had been repaired. It's been a bit stormy and I can see the tiller has been bashing the hatch. Looking at the damage the old ply has signs of water ingress. The failure is probably a fatigue failure on the weak wood. It highlights the need to allow the rudders a bit of freedom on a bungee and to make sure they clear the hatches.
I started new tillers at 5pm last night finished the epoxy at midnight. Paint this morning. I will sail this weekend!
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Having seen the amount of work you got done over the winter, I've no doubt you'll have her fixed in no time!!
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Permalink Reply by Rogerio Martin on
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I lost may tiller conection bar...my lashes, witch keep the rudders fixed on mooring, brocke. The rudders dancing with the waves and push off the tiller conection. The bar float alone and now I need to build another...
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Permalink Reply by David King on
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I have a broken top rudder hinge. when I bought the boat last year the same hinge was broken but I replaced it with a new one. During the winter she was on a pontoon mooring and suffered from an unknown strike to the same rudder(probably an fishing boat). she is now on a fore and aft mooring but swings 30 degrees due to the range of tide. I now am not sure if the hinge is due to the strike or if I have the same problem as my boat has hydraulic steering connected to that same rudder holding it fast when the boat dries, the other rudder has some play as it is connected in the traditional way. Your thought would be very much appreciated.
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Update.
I now know the reason for my pintals breaking.
The stern is slightly heavier than the bows.
On springs the bows swing before the rudders are out of the sand, as the steering is hydraulic and hold fast the only thing that will give is the pintals.
I am now going to redesign the rudders to hinge up when drying.
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