By: Bears Butt
I saw this on Facebook and for all my boating friends, I hope you NEVER have to use this method to get back to the ramp or to the safety of the shoreline, but to have it in your arsenal of things to remember, JUST IN CASE, this is a good one! I never in my wildest dreams would have thought about doing this. And I have a drift sock in my boat!
A man named Tom Keer, www.tomkeer.com, wrote this up and the guys at Take Me Fishing posted it.
So, the thing is, here you are out boating and suddenly your steering cable breaks on your boat! There is no way you can move the engine by hand to get back to the dock…Now What? You are toast right? NOT!
You have been smart enough for all your years of boating to know that you need a baling bucket in the boat somewhere, and of course you also have an anchor and rope that goes with that. So, get ready to put those two worlds together.
Take the bucket (5 gallon type) and make holes in it up near the top, the holes will be on opposite sides of the bucket and for simplicity sake, just make the holes straight up from where the bucket handles are attached. Don’t use the bucket handle itself, as it will probably break off, but even if it didn’t break, your contraption would not work properly anyway. So, now you have the holes in the bucket.
Take a good length of your anchor rope, maybe as much as 30 feet of it and put one end of it through one of the holes and tie a big old knot in it, so it won’t come back through the hole. Then the other end of the rope goes through the other hole and gets its own big old knot tied in it.
So, what are you going to do with this bucket with the rope tied to it? Let the bucket out of the boat and into the water, hang on to the rope, let the bucket fill with water. Since you are going to be going at a very low speed and it will take you awhile to get back to the dock, tie off the rope to somewhere near the center of the back of the boat. You will probably have the rope tied at or near the center of the motor and with an outboard motor you will most likely have rope on each side of it. Remember, your steering cable is broken and so the motor is not going to be able to be moved. Hopefully the cable broke with the motor pushing the boat straight, if not you will get the feeling for what you have to do to get the boat going in the direction you need it to go.
How?
With the drag of the bucket full of water, the boat will naturally turn itself in the direction the drag is coming from. So if you want your boat to turn to the right, put the bucket closer to the right side of the boat, a left turn has the bucket closer to the left side or even completely off the left side.
Tom reminds you in his article that you are trying to get back to the dock or to shore and you are not in any kind of race…go slow to go fast, is what I say. Make your moves in small increments until you get it all figured out. The motor will push the boat forward, now it’s up to you to make the boat go in the direction you need it to go.
If you don’t have a bucket big enough, use your coat, a tarp, an umbrella, an empty cooler, something that will hold a substantial amount of water and be able to be tied to the rope.
There you go folks! Happy boating and be safe!
Thanks Mr. Keer for giving me permission to use your idea!
Bears Butt
December 1, 2013
Steer with a Homemade Drogue
Drastic measures call for drastic means. When your boat’s steering cable goes down for the count you’ve got to figure out a way to get back in. Make a drogue. Drogues are commonly known as sea anchors designed to slow a boat. If they’re moved from side to side, drogues can change a boat’s course. While a traditional drogue is made from canvas and is hung off a boat transom on a bridle, you can make one out of two everyday items and be home in time for supper. You probably already have the components on board: a bucket used to carry some of your gear and an anchor line. In an emergency all you need to do is to rig it up and head for home.
Tools:
- A 5-gallon bucket
- A 50-foot nylon line.
Method:
- Attach the line to the bucket. Drill two holes where the handle meets the bucket. Take one entire length of line, and run the tag ends through each side and tie a double overhand knot for bulk. If you’re using a ½ inch line, make the holes ½ inch in diameter.
- Put your boat in gear. Remember that you’re steering with a bucket, so keep the RPM’s low. Your goal is to get home, not win a race.
- Toss the bucket overboard. Allow the bucket to fill with water. Let equal amounts of line out and make sure the lines are of even length.
- Let out line. Depending on the length of your boat, gradually release line and give the bucket distance from the transom. One full wavelength from the transom is usually ideal.
- Cleat the lines. Tie off each line on the stern cleats on the port and starboard sides.
- Left means left. To turn left, gradually shorten the port line. To turn right, let out the line so the bucket returns to the center and gradually shorten the starboard line. Mark the spot when the boat turns and you can go immediately to that spot when you need to turn.
- Adjust the bucket. Shift the drogue back and forth from port to starboard to accommodate for waves and current until you’re on course. A bucket to slightly to either side of the propeller makes gradual turns while a bucket further to the side makes sharper turns.
Tom Keer is an award-winning freelance writer who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Visit him at www.tomkeer.com
or at http://www.thekeergroup.com .
– See more at: http://blog.takemefishing.org/steer-with-a-homemade-drogue/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialmedia#sthash.bH7amhLg.dpuf
Steer with a Homemade Drogue
Drastic measures call for drastic means. When your boat’s steering cable goes down for the count you’ve got to figure out a way to get back in. Make a drogue. Drogues are commonly known as sea anchors designed to slow a boat. If they’re moved from side to side, drogues can change a boat’s course. While a traditional drogue is made from canvas and is hung off a boat transom on a bridle, you can make one out of two everyday items and be home in time for supper. You probably already have the components on board: a bucket used to carry some of your gear and an anchor line. In an emergency all you need to do is to rig it up and head for home.
Tools:
- A 5-gallon bucket
- A 50-foot nylon line.
Method:
- Attach the line to the bucket. Drill two holes where the handle meets the bucket. Take one entire length of line, and run the tag ends through each side and tie a double overhand knot for bulk. If you’re using a ½ inch line, make the holes ½ inch in diameter.
- Put your boat in gear. Remember that you’re steering with a bucket, so keep the RPM’s low. Your goal is to get home, not win a race.
- Toss the bucket overboard. Allow the bucket to fill with water. Let equal amounts of line out and make sure the lines are of even length.
- Let out line. Depending on the length of your boat, gradually release line and give the bucket distance from the transom. One full wavelength from the transom is usually ideal.
- Cleat the lines. Tie off each line on the stern cleats on the port and starboard sides.
- Left means left. To turn left, gradually shorten the port line. To turn right, let out the line so the bucket returns to the center and gradually shorten the starboard line. Mark the spot when the boat turns and you can go immediately to that spot when you need to turn.
- Adjust the bucket. Shift the drogue back and forth from port to starboard to accommodate for waves and current until you’re on course. A bucket to slightly to either side of the propeller makes gradual turns while a bucket further to the side makes sharper turns.
Tom Keer is an award-winning freelance writer who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Visit him at www.tomkeer.com or at http://www.thekeergroup.com .
– See more at: http://blog.takemefishing.org/steer-with-a-homemade-drogue/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialmedia#sthash.bH7amhLg.dpuf
Steer with a Homemade Drogue
Drastic measures call for drastic means. When your boat’s steering cable goes down for the count you’ve got to figure out a way to get back in. Make a drogue. Drogues are commonly known as sea anchors designed to slow a boat. If they’re moved from side to side, drogues can change a boat’s course. While a traditional drogue is made from canvas and is hung off a boat transom on a bridle, you can make one out of two everyday items and be home in time for supper. You probably already have the components on board: a bucket used to carry some of your gear and an anchor line. In an emergency all you need to do is to rig it up and head for home.
Tools:
- A 5-gallon bucket
- A 50-foot nylon line.
Method:
- Attach the line to the bucket. Drill two holes where the handle meets the bucket. Take one entire length of line, and run the tag ends through each side and tie a double overhand knot for bulk. If you’re using a ½ inch line, make the holes ½ inch in diameter.
- Put your boat in gear. Remember that you’re steering with a bucket, so keep the RPM’s low. Your goal is to get home, not win a race.
- Toss the bucket overboard. Allow the bucket to fill with water. Let equal amounts of line out and make sure the lines are of even length.
- Let out line. Depending on the length of your boat, gradually release line and give the bucket distance from the transom. One full wavelength from the transom is usually ideal.
- Cleat the lines. Tie off each line on the stern cleats on the port and starboard sides.
- Left means left. To turn left, gradually shorten the port line. To turn right, let out the line so the bucket returns to the center and gradually shorten the starboard line. Mark the spot when the boat turns and you can go immediately to that spot when you need to turn.
- Adjust the bucket. Shift the drogue back and forth from port to starboard to accommodate for waves and current until you’re on course. A bucket to slightly to either side of the propeller makes gradual turns while a bucket further to the side makes sharper turns.
Tom Keer is an award-winning freelance writer who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Visit him at www.tomkeer.com or at http://www.thekeergroup.com .
– See more at: http://blog.takemefishing.org/steer-with-a-homemade-drogue/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialmedia#sthash.bH7amhLg.dpuf
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