Rudder Lost at Sea

[Stemar]

have for a long time had a rowlock seat on the transom of my 22', the idea being if I somehow lost the rudder I could use the spi pole in the rowlock with a bunk lid as a rudder...

I have it all in mind but really must test it !

Maybe get some suitable U bolts and have the relevant holes pre-drilled?

My steering plan B, for pottering around the Solent, would be to use a bucket over the side for crude control getting to the harbour entrance, then the outboard on its bracket to get home.

[Seajet]

You are missing my point - it's not that hard - especially in the Solent not Southern Ocean ! - to cobble up a Plan B steering - the hard bit is trying to work it out if

no rudder

a bit mangled rudder to one side

flailing rudder behind

and so on.

I could not try and simulate a rudder emergency accurately, as there's a bloody great transom hung rudder in the way wanting to steer the thing !

I always carry a sea anchor, one option ( pretty much dead downwind I fear ! ) would be to deploy it with lines to each quarter - I've been involved when this was a good idea towing a half sunken boat and it worked, veering the tow from one side to the other.

[DJE]

This is how one crew coped.

https://www.sailblogs.com/member/egret/203539

[Stemar]

You are missing my point - it's not that hard - especially in the Solent not Southern Ocean ! - to cobble up a Plan B steering - the hard bit is trying to work it out if

no rudder

a bit mangled rudder to one side

flailing rudder behind

and so on.

I could not try and simulate a rudder emergency accurately, as there's a bloody great transom hung rudder in the way wanting to steer the thing !

I always carry a sea anchor, one option ( pretty much dead downwind I fear ! ) would be to deploy it with lines to each quarter - I've been involved when this was a good idea towing a half sunken boat and it worked, veering the tow from one side to the other.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy but, at least you've got a plan, so you've got a chance to adapt it to fit the circumstances. I think if my rudder's nicely jammed hard over, I'm a bit stuffed, especially if it's a bit bumpy, though a decent steerable OB on the back should give some semblance of control. Not a lot of help mid Channel, though.

[Sandy]

Is there a reward if we find it?

[Elessar]

Crossing to Guernsey from Dartmouth on a bilge keel mirage 28, some friends in a sporty thing wanted to cross with us as they hadn’t done it before.

I can’t remember the boat but it was much bigger and faster than us (but to be fair we could be overtaken by a pedalo).

They kept going ahead, sailing back and then overtaking us again. Keeping us in sight. We thought they were mad.

Then they lost control. Radio chat and we decided to take them under tow. Harder than it sounds mid channel but we did it.

16 hours after we left we got back to Dartmouth. They were lifted and their (non skeg) rudder was gone.

All the theories of balancing the boat and making way could work in a long keeler I guess but not in a sporty ish fin thing. They did try and just were at the mercy of the swell.

They bought dinner, we left at 4am and got there in the mirage the next day.

And I still miss channel crossings in a 4 knot boat, with just a whirly gig depth and an RDF. But we did have a good rudder

[Kelpie]

I did once try to steer a boat using a drogue, as an exercise. It was a fairly wide-beamed , square-sterned, displacement motor vessel, so the drogue could be placed quite far off centre.

It was almost completely ineffectual. With the drogue hanging off the starboard quarter, we could hold a straight line, countering the prop torque. With no drogue, we would make a gentle turn to port, and with the drogue fixed to the port quarter, a slightly sharper port turn.

It may have just been the characteristics of the particular boat, and maybe a larger drogue would have helped, but I was left very sceptical of the idea of using a drogue to steer.

[Wandering Star]

I carry a couple of harnesses which I plan to fit to a couple of friendly dolphins (or pigs if there happen to be any in the vicinity) - these mammals have a reputation for helping humans when the chips are down and would no doubt tow my boat to land or at least to within VHF range if I lost steerage.

[Seajet]

One dolphin on each foot, you could make a stylish entrance to port, if they're as helpful as made out they should deposit you at a beachside bar then nip back and secure the boat to a safe mooring with a lifeboat containing a hungry tiger as a theft deterrent - sounds a practical plan as long as you have lots of tins of tuna to cast in front, what could possibly go wrong...

[BlowingOldBoots]

I did once try to steer a boat using a drogue, as an exercise. ......... I was left very sceptical of the idea of using a drogue to steer.

This bloke uses a Galerider Drogue to demonstrate drogue steering; conditions are rather benign. Reactions in heavy weather would probably be very different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vupIl68mCYg