Steering Modification....

Hard to believe that I've being faffing around with the quadrant section of the steering for almost a year. The initial plan was to bolt an aluminum plate onto the forward quadrant bulkhead and run the pull-pull conduits directly into "L" brackets on it. This sort of copied the original Edson design. I went as far as having the plate made. The attempted installation was a PITA and I hate having to work upside-down.

Now I know that all of you with wire steering systems check and oil the sheave bearings MONTHLY and check and oil the wire ANNUALLY (monthly if its a pull pull system), as per the Edson instruction manual. If I am to do it more that once a decade it cannot involve me hanging upside-down.

On a whim I called the help desk at Edson and talked to a very helpful person who appeared vastly knowledgeable on the subject of steering. I told him that I was following the Edson conversion plan for the Whitby 42 and he promptly told me that that plan didn't really work. In fairness I had conveniently ignored the penciled in "Extra Sheaves here" bit. Basically any 90degree bends in a pull-pull system are not recommended as the wire tries to straighten out the conduit. The conduit is ideal for small vertical/horizontal bends to allow the cable to move in a more or less straight direction. He talked me through some modifications.

To shorten the story I have now purchased two in/out pull-pull sheaves and the larger reversible sheave bracket rudder-stop.




The wooden part is a mock up for an aluminum plate which hold all the components and will be bolted through the fiberglass bulkhead.



No more upside-down steering maintenance for me. For info, the help desk guy I spoke to double jobs as the Edson President, Will Keene.