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