Hi Bud, Hope your flu is better! Surgical tubing is nice, but regular bungee cord works just as well. Go with what you can obtain in the easiest manner. Sheet to tiller steering works fine, provided you have wind. That's the catch! No wind; no steering with that system. See Letcher's book on the various sheet to tiller steering systems he tried and used on his trip from Hawaii to the US West Coast. It's the Bible on sheet to tiller steering methods. Connie