Double tiller arm

My brother-in-law recently bought a house across the lake from and managed to get an 84 Nautique as part of the deal.

He has been having problems with the steering locking up when turning to the right, this occurs at all speeds and in neutral. Overall the steering is not very smooth compared to my 77 Tique.

We got the part number off of the steering cable and called a local Nautique dealer. They were very confused because the part number on the cable was for a 36’ steering cable. So they ordered the cable that should fit an 84 Nautique.

When we removed the back floor this morning we found that the rudder has two tiller arms, a clamp block on each side and a 36’ cable that has an open section in the middle where it runs through the rotary helm. I talked to KENO ( thank you Ken) this morning and he gave me a little possible history on this setup that may have been used for ski shows.

We ended up installing the new cable as if it only had a single tiller arm. Steering felt very smooth but started to lock up while turning right again. Tomorrow we plan to disconnect the cable from the tiller arm and see if the rudder and steering wheel both move freely. I would expect one of them to lockup identifying the problem component.

Is there anything else I should be looking at that could cause this?

I'll get a picture of the helm and the rest of the boat tomorrow.  Standard maroon and brown paint that I have seen on a lot of 80's Nautiques, I didn't notice any special decals or anything.  He does have the paper with an address for the original owner in Orlando FL.  I'll see if there is anything else in the folder of papers..

TRBenj wrote: Very strange. I wonder how the cable would be fed into the helm… pics may tell the story. I assumed the dual cable boats used double helms.

It looked like the helm would need to be taken apart to insert the cable. You could wrap it around the gear then put the helm halves back together. I thought maybe it was two separate cables but since it said “36 ft” on the cable and where it was broken in the helm, the two pieces fit back together perfectly makes me think the only way to insert it would be to open the helm.

I think I have a picture of the cable part number.

The second bilge was also something I wasn’t expecting to find under the floor.

They did get a folder full of receipts for parts, photos from a stringer job and some other documentation. I’ll see if I can find anything useful in it that may tell the story of this boat.

The previous owner they got it from didn’t take the best care of it, but we will get it back to its former glory… or close to it.

Factory records would be interesting to see as well.

I’ve never seen or heard of the double cable steering in a Nautique.  Very cool to see.  OK now we need to know, are we talking about the Steve Miller Band or Steve Miller, record setting Water Skier?

Great history on your boat.  I think that was Todd and Cindy Benzel ski school.  Cindy competed with the pre  married name of Matranga.

Growing up skiing in Sacramento Cindy or Cindi was a local hero on the pro tour, she dated a buddy of mine for a while, a local cop who could hit 6 balls at 36 mph.  I skied a little with Cindy’s Dad and brother Rocky, they were both really good skiers also but never met her husband she had moved away by then, but should have remembered his name he was in water ski magazine every issue for years and that magazine was treasured every month in my house.

No, his name was Pat,  never met the LaPoint brothers myself but Pat trained with Bob a little.  Pat said riding in the boat while Bob ran the course was amazing, said he was so strong he jerked the entire boat a foot off course with each turn.  This would have been in the mid to late 80’s so the boats were not as solid pulling as today’s boats but still very impressive.

I think Bob Lapoint was 6'2" and 195 while while Kris was 6'3" and 205 in their prime.  I think Andy Mapple was taller.  Both LaPoints were very strong skiers.

67 ski nat wrote: Maher still has his shop and sells the Suzanne summers poster Lapoint was a big boy. So pulling the boat over a foot was cheating ?? Made rope seem longer Sorry for hijacking thread but the sea world mention brought back old mammories

10-4. Big guys could turn the Maha better, needed some weight behind it
Speaking of beautiful ski. I saw a Connelly
Hook inlaid exotic wood recently amazing for the day

I did not get any photos of the ends of the cable.  We are unfortunately still having some issues with the steering after the cable replacement.  It feels like it continues to get tighter as you turn the wheel to the right and will still occasionally lock.

Mille1sj wrote:   We are unfortunately still having some issues with the steering after the cable replacement.  .