Hi all; Bill is the winner for long distance diagnosing...; there is a chrome "collar" or "nut' which is threaded and the the top of the rudder post which is also threaded; the collar is tightened down over the rudder post and sits on a delrin "washer" which is about 1/8 inch thick. There are two set screws in the collar to keep it tight n the rudder post. The rudder pivots on this assembly when steering the boat.
In my case, these set screws apparently loosened up to allow the collar to loosen which caused play in the rudder post. The result was to strip the threads on the collar allowing the rudder to drop. The fix is to get a new collar, which I hope someone here can help my in identifying; there are no markings or part numbers on the collar. Of course, I have lots of photos.
For a quick fix, we were able to invert the collar and use the remaining threads ( about 1/2" to 5/8") to hold the rudder in place. I am confident that this will work until I can identify and order the new collar.
So it seems I have been lucky and my situation fits under Mike Hoyt's "good case" scenario rather than the whole assembly failing, which is the "bad case" scenario. I feel a lot better than I did 24 hours ago, but will report back on progress. I would have thought the C&C used the same assembly for all of the rudders regardless of the model of the boat, but maybe not...;
If anyone ha any experience or suggestions in locating the "collar, please send them on...Thank you to everyone!
Richard
Richard N. Bush Law Offices
2950 Breckenridge Lane, Suite Nine
Louisville, Kentucky 40220
(502) 584-7255
