A wet towel puts a damper on a loose helm
One morning, we were at anchor in a pretty cove when an empty water bottle blew overboard. We raised the anchor and chased down the errant bottle. Once the anchor was up, we decided to drift with the wind, under bare poles, out of the creek. We were in no hurry.
While the boat was moving along slowly like that, the tiller didn’t need much attention, but I couldn’t leave it on its own either. Since our laundry was still on the lifelines, I snagged a slightly damp towel, folded it, and set it under the tiller atop the lazarette. That immediately tamed the tyranny of the tiller. Now, I needed only to give it an occasional correcting poke. If I wanted to, I could stand up and straddle the tiller to steer with my knees.
Dampness is essential to this quick trick, as it makes the towel a bit tacky. A dry towel slides on the fiberglass too easily to hold the tiller in place. Fortunately, a little water is not too hard to find.
Allen Penticoff, a Good Old Boat contributing editor, is a freelance writer, sailor, and longtime aviator. He has trailer-sailed on every Great Lake and on many inland waters and has had keelboat adventures on fresh and salt water. He owns an American 14.5, a MacGregor 26D, and a 1955 Beister 42-foot steel cutter that he stores as a “someday project.”
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