Rube Goldberg Lives!

In my last piece, I went on at some length about Slider’s steering system. I like it because it’s so comfortable. Unlike a boat steered with a tiller, when sailing Slider, you don’t have to twist yourself sideways to steer. Your arm lies along the side deck as if on the arm of an easy chair. You grab the rope, push or pull and the boat answers the helm.

However, sometimes the system wasn’t perfect. In heavy air, weather helm increases somewhat, and dead downwind in a stout breeze and following seas, the boat requires a lot of back-and-forth to keep it on track, as is the case with most sailboats.

After a few hours, your hand gets tired.

So I give you the Aldridge Steering Line Grip Enhancer:

This device was invented as an alternative to knots in the steering line, which would have been simpler, but not as comfortable or as adjustable.

You start out with a piece of Schedule 40 1/2″ PVC pipe, long enough to get a good grip. You cut a 1/4″ slot halfway through the midpoint of the pipe section. You glue a pipe cap on one end (not strictly necessary) and a slip-to-thread male pipe adapter on the other. You cut a piece of 1/2″ dowel just long enough to squash the rope into the bottom of the slot when a threaded cap is screwed onto the male adapter.

Here’s what the bits look like:

Finally, the device in use:

The gripper is easily adjusted or removed. You just loosen the cap and slide the thing along the rope, or just pull it off and put it away