Again, I seek advice from this august body,
I’m tempted by a folding steering wheel.
As my mind becomes more forgetful, it would be nice to find the steering wheel where it ought to be when leaving the dock instead of nicely out of the way, perched on the stern railing.
Lewmar has an option that lists “Tapered vs parallel shaft”. I suspect our Edson pedestals are old-school parallel, with a tapered key.
Does anyone know for sure?
Hi,
I bought a Lewmar folding wheel for my NS30U 2 years ago, very happy with this purchase. I’m pretty sure it came with both hubs, tapered and straight. The Edson I have is straight. But smaller ones might not.
Also, my original wheel was 28", I bought a 32". Thought about a 36", but on measuring I found the cockpit locker hatches would not fully open. Limiting access to lockers while underway. Of course yours will be different on a NS26.
Best price I found in Canada was online at Marine Outfitters in Ontario.
Read the installation instructions carefully, they warn you not to remove old wheel and install new one while underway. A US lawyer must have been involved.
Thanks for the responses,
I’ll bet my wheel on a 26’ is also 28".
Now I’m wondering if a 32" will fit…seem to remember my leg just squishing by the wheel and lazerette lid as it is now…
It’'ll have to wait until I ship up north for the summer to measure. Thankfully Marine Outfitters is on our regular drive-by route.
Cheers,
I happen to know the answer to the first question: the standard wheels on N26s are indeed 28". I recently measured mine for a new wheel/pedestal cover.
I’m pretty sure a 32" will fit. I’ll measure when I’m on the boat later today. The wheel’s center is above the cockpit seat level, so the wheel cross-section at the seat corners is less than the full 32" diameter. However, you’d definitely have to forget about moving around it via the cockpit sole; you’ll have to get up on the seats to move around the wheel.
Because I’m already doing that quite a bit with a 28" wheel, I built a grabrail extension to the guardrail around my pedestal. This gives me a much better (and safer) handhold when moving around. I’ll take a picture of that when I’m on the boat and post it as well. I built mine from 1" stainless steel tube, and assorted fittings. Probably cost me about $120 USD. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but I’m very glad I did it.
We have been thinking of buying a folding wheel and your response below was very helpful.
I have a question about the position of the folding wheel when the rudder is centered. Is the key or the hub somehow adjustable so that when the wheel’s folded segments are at the sides not the top and bottom when the rudder is at neutral?
The boat should be at the dock and not moving when the wheel is folded so it doesn’t matter much except that I like to start moving with the rudder at neutral and I can imagine myself forgetting to recenter the rudder.
The key and hub are not adjustable. When I installed mine, it was out by about 1/8 of a turn, not much but I wanted it proper and had made a turk’s head knot to mark the wheel when centred and rudder straight.
I corrected the wheel centre by adjusting the cable on the steering quadrant, below in cockpit locker. Not too difficult to do, but took a few tries to get it right. You just loosen one side, then tighten the other.
I sold the old wheel for about $150 on Craigslist. So somewhat offset cost of new one. The 32" is the size to get for a NS30.
The distance from the center of the wheel hub to the corner of the cockpit seats on my N26 is 17.5", which means that a 33" wheel will likely fit with an inch to spare. (You definitely won’t be able to open the cockpit lockers without folding the wheel first. Whether that’s a problem or not depends on how likely you consider the possibility of needing to access them while underway.)
The attached picture shows the grab bar I ginned up as an add-on to but steering pedestal rail guard. As currently done, it’s still a bit wobbly, but it conveys the concept. I’d suggest doing something like it if you’re going to be stepping up on the seats to get around a larger wheel. Otherwise, the thing you grab when moving forward when the going gets bumpy will likely be wheel. In that case, you’ll end up simultaneously losing your handhold and throwing the boat into a hard turn, both at a bad time to do either.
On my boat engine kill cable is located inside starboard cockpit locker. So being able to fully open the cockpit locker hatch to kill engine in emergency situation is important consideration.
Don
I did some preliminary planning some time back on how I could relocate the shut-off to be accessible from the helm without opening the locker door.
The two alternatives I considered were: (a) cutting a hole in the side, angling the current push-pull to go through it, and adding some kind of cover to keep water from getting in; vs., (b) setting up a lever on an axle through the cockpit side, with an inner arm set up to lift and lower the cut-off and the outer arm operable from the cockpit.
I came to the conclusion that I could probably make it work, but it wasn’t worth the effort it’d take me to make it look good. But, it’s a possibility if someone wanted or needed to do it badly enough and had the right skills.
I’ve been trying to get my butt in gear to do this, Bob. I have seen a bracket to place on the pedestal legs that will accept a cable for this purpose.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Hi Mike - I took some measurements on Purrfection today.
Steer wheel is 28”. Distance from core to seat 18 to 18 1/2” . Core of wheel depth on post 2 3/8”.
Ted Eedson
26U #232 Purrfection sailing out of Loyalist Cove Marina on Lake Ontario at Bath.
I’d love to see a photo of the 26" wheel on your NS26. Mine has the standard 28" wheel and I have to step up on the seats to go forward. I’ve been thinking of a folding wheel, but your idea of a slightly smaller wheel might suit me better.
Thanks,
Elsie Sands
NS26 Seven Stars
Maple Bay, Vancouver Island
Canada
Something to consider is that the diameter of the wheel affects how much leverage you (and any autopilot you might have) are able to exert on the rudder.
Depending on your size, strength, and the conditions you sail in, this may or may not be a significant difference, but it is something to keep in mind before making a final commitment.
