[C320-list] Folding Wheel

[T. Scott Thompson]

Allan:  What do you mean that the spoke alignment is different from the 
standard wheel?  Are they not symmetrically spaced around the hub?  If 
they are, and if you have the standard six spokes, then the autohelm 
should self align.

Allan Field wrote:
> John - The luckiest girl on O-dock, my Best Mate, received a 40-inch Lewmar
> folding wheel for X-Mas this year.  I have only sailed once this year so my
> actual experience with the wheel under sail is still small.
>
> As for installation, I had a fit getting the ST4000 autopilot installed on
> the wheel.  Finally, after buying several sets of spoke clamps from
> Raymarine and talking with Raymarine direct, I was able to cobble together
> something that worked.  Basically, I used 2 clamps from the ST4000 series
> and one clamp from an upgraded version, MKII I believe.  One of the clamps
> is on with only one screw.  The problem is that the ST4000 clamp holes do
> not line up with the spokes on the Lewmar.  And the spokes are not in the
> same alignment as the Edson wheel.
>
> The second problem that I had was in trying to order from Catalina in order
> to get the "Catalina-blue" colored leather wrap.  I talked to 2 different
> folks at Catalina, both who told me that they could not sell me the wheel.
> But 2 other folks - my local dealer and the Lewmar dealer - both told me
> that this was available through Catalina.  After several phone calls back
> and forth with Catalina (of which some were never returned by Catalina), I
> surrendered and ordered the brown-wrapped wheel from PYacht.  I sent an
> e-mail to Gerry Douglas after all this was over and got one back telling me
> to contact the same guy who had already told me twice that he could not sell
> the thing to me!
>
> The wheel is on the boat now.  The one thing I noticed when sailing last
> week is that the leather does not cover the 4 joints where the wheel
> collapses (and I would not expect it to).  However, it will take a little
> getting used to moving my hand from a nice, warm leather wrap onto hard
> metal with a palpable joint on the backside.
>
> Finally, I am not sure that the wheel is fully on the Edson spoke.  This may
> be a need to grind down the autohelm spoke mounted to the binnacle (I don't
> know what else to call this thing).  So there is a little bit of play in the
> wheel that I will need to address later if it continues to bother me.
>
> Several weeks after purchasing, I noted that Edson had come out with a wheel
> of their own.  I wish I had waited until I had at least seen the Edson
> offering.  The problem again with the Lewmar is that the spokes are aligned
> totally different from the Edson.
>
> I left the wheel in the collapsed position all winter while the boat was on
> the hard.  Walking past the wheel back and forth all winter definitely made
> a difference in ease of passage.  The folding wheel is a great concept but
> again, the Lewmar is not quite ready for our configuration.  For the money,
> the thing should be a perfect fit for any configuration and it was not.
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Disappointed in Columbia, MD (grin!)
> Allan S. Field
> Sea Shadow - #808
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-List-bounces at catalina320.com
> [mailto:C320-List-bounces at catalina320.com] On Behalf Of John Van Vessem
> Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2006 8:30 AM
> To: C320-List
> Subject: [C320-list] Folding Wheel
>
> Has anyone replaced their wheel with either the Edison "Access Wheel" or the
> Lewmar Folding Wheel.  If so I'd like to here your opinion as well as
> whether they can work with an Autohelm.
>    
>   John (Sojourn645)
>
>
>
>
>
> John Van Vessem
> Sojourn 645
> Vallejo Yacht Club
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