Well, I've been a boater for a little over a month now..it's about time I ended up here.<br />Before you toss me a snorkel, no..it wasn't the plug.<br /><br />I purchased a '64 Arkansas Traveler and set about to fixing all the little things that needed attention.<br />Last time I was out, the nut on the end of the steering wheel shaft came loose, allowing the 'drum' to turn on the shaft. Floated for a while while I got the tool box out and wedged myself under the dash and secured it.<br />While I was under there I noticed that the cable came in to one end of the drum, and wrapped all the way down to the other end. I just figured that was the way it was supposed to be.<br />I saw a post here on iBoats that had a link to a picture of how it's 'supposed to be done'..(the cable comes in from one side, meets the drum halfway down and then wraps to the end, then it passes under the wraps to the opposite end, and wraps from that end down to the center...so the cables meet the drum halfway and one cable comes in opposite to where the other one leaves....<br />I'd link to the picture, but I lost it.<br />Anyways...I changed my cable, and wrapped the drum the way it showed in the picture.<br />Then I climbed in and turned the wheel one way and then the other...feels MUCH better.<br /><br />Drug the old girl to the water tonight. Climbed in, warmed it up, shoved off the dock and dropped it into gear. Still at idle speed, I swung it out towards the lake, and it didn't 'feel' right. The more I turned towards the open water, the more the boat turned toward the ramp. !!<br />I just did what every other person would automatically do...I turned the wheel harder! I was shocked, baffled, and in danger of running into the boat being launched, so I went for reverse. I looked back, and the astonishment wore off and I realized what was happening.<br />The dumb a$$ that wound the cable didn't pay enough attention to the diagram. The diagram shows the cable meeting the drum at the top. Laying upside down when I put the cable in, I wrapped mine so it meets the drum at the bottom.<br />Worked fine in the driveway...I just didn't happen to notice WHICH way the motor was turning when I was turning the wheel.<br /><br />Well, it was a weeknight, and there was just myself and the guy launching, so I went boating anyway. Took it REAL easy...I could see him at the ramp...he stopped launching and was watching me turning left and right, trying to figure out why I was going left when I was cranking the wheel to the right...hehehe<br />We just tooled around the shoreline, just off idle...my wife laughing at me every time I would turn the wheel and head the opposite direction I wanted to. After a while I found out that it was easier to drive if I crossed my arms. <br />We cruised up and down the shoreline, and had a great ride...looking at houses, Waving and saying hello to people and likely seeing/noticing more sights and sounds than we ever did before.<br /><br />I know what I'M doing tomorrow after work. 
