It is nice to know that the rudder gives first rather than the gudgeons or bolts on the transom. I had been thinking of that lately. Sorry you were the one to put it to the test Todd......but thanks anyway. ~:0) I hope to get a kick up version one day as well, my other boat has one and it is the dogs gronicals. Recently back from a (thankfully trouble free) vacation cruise myself. Tim Diebert M17 # 369 "Puph" Kelowna BC htmills@bright.net wrote:
Ever wonder what happens when an M17 rudder encounters an immovable object?
Find out here:
www.todspages.net/images/LF-ShatteredRudder2.jpg
and
www.todspages.net/images/LF-ShatteredRudder.jpg
Fortunately, IdaSailor was able to overnight a replacement, saving my vacation trip. Unfortunately, my vacation was sufficiently short that I elected not to wait the extra day or two for a kick-up type. A kick up type IS in Busca's future, though.
How did this happen? I was not observant enough to notice that the round, mooring-ball-sized float at the edge of a mooring field was in fact not a mooring but instead was someone's old faded round ball fender marking a shoal. At first I thought I had hit a concrete mooring block, but after thinking over the appearance of the "mooring ball" concluded that it was just a fender marking a shoal.
I was surprised that the bolts on the transom did not pop. (Even the sealant covering the lowermost gudgeon was intact). When previous owner Rod Johnson smacked a log hanging out under a log boom, he didn't break the rudder, but did stretch the bolts on the transom gudgeon (which I replaced).
Tod Mills M17 #408 BuscaBrisas
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