Opening the deck plate for the emergency tiller (MK II)

[tonywright]

I thought that I would share a couple of ideas that could make using your emergency tiller at lot easier, should the unfortunate situation ever arise.

I had a problem opening the deck plate that provides access the top of the rudder post.

First, the tool supplied for opening the plate is just some bent rod in the shape of a spring, and jumps out of the two key holes whenever it meets resistance.

So step 1 was to find a better tool. See the picture below. This is a Groco Spanner Wrench. Cost under $20. I had originally bought this for another purpose, but realized it would be perfect for this job! I would recommend this as an essential tool for any MKII. I understand that Catalina has since discontinued providing this kind of deck plate on any of their models because so many owners reported problems trying to open the plate with the original tool. It tends to damage the plate rather than open it. The spanner wrench make the job super easy. It is now in the emergency tiller bag.

Second problem is that my rudder post is way off centre under the access. This caused the tabs under the plate (one under each of the keyholes) to strike the rudder post as the plate was rotated. This made it almost impossible to open the deck plate, and was damaging the collar round the top of the rudder post.

My solution was to use a dremel tool to grind off some of each tab. Now I know that I can open the plate easily in an emergency.

[Stu Jackson]

In addition, I recommend Lanacote on the threads of the deck plate.

[Ken Juul]

I made my own, took a 6" piece of 2x2, drilled holes the correct distance apart and inserted a bolt in each hole.  Made the holes slightly smaller than the bolts for a pressure fit.