Replacing seized rudder bearings
Step by step
The weather had betrayed us. Our much anticipated one-week holiday to the Walton Backwaters had been turned into a one day trip by unseasonably high winds on the originally planned passage day, and now, as we finally enjoyed our first day on the beaches of Walton-on-the-Naze, the forecast once again showed high winds for the planned date for the return leg. Worse still, those high winds were from the wrong direction.
Mirage, our Bavaria 40, is a fine sea boat and would comfortably crash into a Force 6 on the nose, but I wanted to make sure that for our four young crew (Thomas 10, Sophie 7, Matthew 4, and Isabelle 1) it would be a positive return journey.
We’d made the mistake of ignoring weather windows before to make the most of our holiday time, so we reluctantly planned to leave on the Thursday first thing, taking the first of the ebb out of the Walton Backwaters to carry the flood up the Thames and back to our home port on the Medway.
We departed as the false dawn crept up, with Liz helming the boat out of the marina and navigating the meandering channel over the bar of the Walton Backwaters. As we left, she complained the steering was exceedingly stiff. On the outward passage across the Thames we’d noted the autopilot was squeaking and the steering was already feeling tight. We’d had problems with the autopilot drive unit clutch binding in the past, so I supposed it was this again, however the ever cheerful, helpful and expert Cliff of Whitlock Steering had rebuilt the unit for us the year before, so I was surprised.
The conditions of the passage were ideal. A gentle breeze on the aft quarter over the fast-flowing tide that now flooded into the Thames made for flat seas and fast sailing. However, my anxiety grew as the autopilot groaned to port, and then groaned again to starboard. What would we do if the steering seized up before we got back to the marina?
From the middle of the Thames I messaged Cliff, and (even though it was a bank holiday) he politely
