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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Rudder and Tiller Gone

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kc5dlo
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/26/2014 : 12:58:11

Nice warm Sunday so I go to the boat for a day of sailing. Get aboard and notice the tiller cover still lashed to the backstay, but no tiller! Rudder gone too! I did have a cir-clip on one of the pintels so I am thinking it was stolen. I don't know if the assembly would float at all if it had somehow slipped off the boat. Might try to go back with the telescopic pole from my tree saw and poke around some.
Bummer.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2014 : 13:20:34

I sleuthed out that you have an '89 c-25... (...and suggest you put some info in your profile Signature.) I bought the same rudder that came on your boat, and noticed it would float right off the gudgeons if not pinned down. If you somehow lost the ring, your rudder might be floating around the marina somewhere. Hope so--it ain't cheap!

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4306 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2014 : 13:33:50

The '89 rudder will definitely float off the gudgeons. In fact on the rare occasion I take mine off I have a hard time getting it back on by myself.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2014 : 14:22:28

Hope it wasn't stolen. Who would steal the rudder & tiller off of a C-25 except maybe another C-25 owner?

This is hopelessly biased, but I like to think that sailors wouldn't steal another sailor's gear.

I know the only problems we've ever had at our marina with regard to theft has been from outside people breaking in and trying to steal outboards or dinghies, a rudder & tiller seem like a very small market to try to sell after you'd stolen it, unless you planned to use it yourself. However, it might pay to watch Craigslist for a while to see if it shows up there.

If you were a member of our marina and thief, there are dozens of wide open boathouses on our power boat float, frequently with open toolboxes, fridges & freezers, etc. In fact, most of the folks I've met down there have told me and others we're free to borrow what we need, just make sure you put it back. On the rare occasion I have, I put it back with a six pack of good beer.

I went down to the marina yesterday and there was a new (as in I hadn't seen it before) power boat across the dock from me, 22-24 footer Boston Whaler-ish looking, with the keys in the ignition!

Hopefully it's floating around somewhere in your marina and you're not on a river where it's headed out to sea.

Good luck & let us know the outcome.

Edited by - on

glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2014 : 17:33:17

Hope you do find your rudder soon.
As the potential of theft was raised....we had a thief 2-3 years ago that specialized in dinghies. Over the course of about a month several were taken from along the floating dock serving our mooring field. After much conjecture and few clues we finally got a break when it was discovered a young muskrat had taken up residence nearby who had developed a liking (or disliking ???) to dinghy painters. A Have-a-Hart and a short trip to a nearby creek/marsh resolved our problem. Fortunately all dinghies were recovered although it was a bit humbling to explain why dinghies from our field were scattered around the bay. Unfortunately this past summer we were hit by (presumably) a two-legged varmint who stole a relatively new outboard from a moored boat.

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Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 05:44:01

kc5: sorry to hear. Do you know what/if pins were locking the pintle? Seems odd it would float off, but i can imagine wave action getting the better of it.

"On the rare occasion I have, I put it back with a six pack of good beer" Dave, can I loan you anything? :O)

edit: I reread, and saw your note on circlips. With the tiller cover still lashed in place, we are all pulling for you that the circlip failed and you find your rudder in soggy but good repair. Is there something that can be floated off your boat as a rudder surrogate used to determine potential location?

Edited by - Ape-X on 01/27/2014 05:46:46

kc5dlo
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 06:30:58

When I went to the marina office, they had closed for the day. My rudder is/was very heavy and never showed any tendency to float off. The cir-clip did not go on till I had had the boat in the water for about a month. That would have been about 12 months ago. Used the boat last Sunday so at least the time frame is narrowed down a bit. I will post back after talking with the people at the marina.

Edited by - on

pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

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2402 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 09:02:04

The "balancing" leading edge is under the boat so the rudder cannot float off unless the rudder is hard over. If the rudder was lashed amidship it did not float off.

Edited by - pastmember on 01/27/2014 09:02:28

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 09:07:13

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">"On the rare occasion I have, I put it back with a six pack of good beer" Dave, can I loan you anything? :O)<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I have no current needs, but there's always good beer on the boat, feel free to stop by anytime to help me shrink my supply.

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 09:11:22

If the rudder was a balanced model, it did not float off. The shape of a balanced rudder puts the leading edge beneath the stern and as such, the rudder must be turned 90 deg (perpendicular to the center line) to be lifted off the pintels. As we know, it is impossible to turn the rudder 90 deg when the tiller is attached...

Edited by - jerlim on 01/27/2014 09:40:37

kc5dlo
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 11:16:01

I do normally lash the tiller hard over. Called the marina this morning and the guy in the office told me he would ask around and call me back.
I just got a call back from him and he said the maintenance guy found a rudder floating and put it on his work barge. no way to tell if its mine till I go down and have a look but it does sound promising. I will update when I get more info as I would sure like to know what happened.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2014 : 14:12:40

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jerlim
 If the rudder was a balanced model, it did not float off. The shape of a balanced rudder puts the leading edge beneath the stern and as such, the rudder must be turned 90 deg (perpendicular to the center line) to be lifted off the pintels. As we know, it is impossible to turn the rudder 90 deg when the tiller is attached...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">All it needs is to be turned enough so the "step" on the rudder clears the skeg on the boat. I suspect it could then float up enough to lift the pintles out of the gudgeons. A boat wake might have been enough to shake it loose. It might feel heavy, but unless it's waterlogged, it should float that much with the blade well down into the water. I'd say it was lucky it stayed on for a month without a pin or ring.

Hope that's the one the marina found. Then the next questions are "how?" and "why?"

Edited by - on

kc5dlo
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Response Posted - 01/28/2014 : 15:18:59

Rudder and tiller are back on the boat, no worse for wear. Still not sure what happened. This time I plan on finding a more robust cir-clip and will lash the tiller amid-ship. Noticed one C25 in the marina, while looking for the work barge, that lashed the tiller to the main sheet. I will consider doing that because I always fear tripping or miss stepping and falling on a centered tiller. With it lashed to the mainsheet, it would be out of the way yet centered and as pointed out, make it impossible to float off the gudgeons.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 01/28/2014 : 15:45:14

Good to hear!

Edited by - on

TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 01/28/2014 : 16:42:02

Really good news, glad it's back home

Edited by - TCurran on 01/28/2014 16:42:58

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 01/28/2014 : 20:22:38

Great news, glad you got it back and it didn't end up on Craigslist or Ebay!

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2014 : 08:54:32

My miserable old original rudder with cracks all around and with my fiberglass repair across the central third weighed a ton.

The new balanced rudder replacement floated nicely and needed a cotter pin to stay in place, even with the tiller and hardware.

So nice to hear that yours was not stolen!

Before the last east coast hurricane warnings, I doubled the docklines on my C-25, and then the extra lines were stolen by some creep!

Edited by - JohnP on 01/29/2014 08:55:49

kc5dlo
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2014 : 10:23:55

Stopped by the marina on my way home last night. There was still some daylight and it was warmer so I re-installed the rudder. Saw the maint guy that had found it floating and thanked him and gave him a Fifty. Told him I really appreciated it. Then he asked me if I wanted a dock box for my slip? He said free and I said sure! (and thanked him again).

Life is about the lemon aid and not the lemons.

Edited by - on

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