  Using an algorithm for simulating equilibrium configurations, we study a
fluctuating helical polymer either (i) contained in a cylindrical pore or (ii)
wound around a cylindrical rod. We work in the regime where both the contour
length and the persistence length of the helical polymer are much larger than
the diameter of the cylinder. In case (i) we calculate the free energy of
confinement and interpret it in terms of a worm-like chain in a pore with an
effective diameter that depends on the parameters of the helix. In case (ii) we
consider the possibility that one end of the helical polymer escapes from the
rod and wanders away. The average numbers of turns at which the helix escapes
or intersects the rod are measured in the simulations, as a function of the
pitch $p_0$. The behavior for large and small $p_0$ is explained with simple
scaling arguments.
