I have the standard lifting rudder on mt 17 and a kick up rudder I made.
I like the option of being able to choose which to use, and more often use the kick up
version. (Shallow Bays and Lakes)
As a question for Bob, why doesn't the factory offer a kick up for the 17?
Wayne
----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig F. Honshell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 9:21 PM
Subject: M_Boats: i'm confused by the . . .
. . . terminology . . . Isn't the gudgeon the thing mounted to the transom that
receives the pin, whereas the pintle is the thing on the rudder with the pin . . .
This arrangement, in some cases, being reversed?
Nonetheless, the photo in this link very clearly shows a rudder arrangement my '84
M17 #389 never had . . .
My piece like the one shown, that I thought was the pintle, was not open to receive
the lifting rod, as with Tod's Busca . . . Mine had a solid pin . . . And I had three
of these solid pins that mounted through three gudgeons (or pintles) identical to the
one shown bolted to Tod's transom . . .
I have never seen the standard M17 rudder lifting method up close . . . But from the
pics and descripts, it makes sense how it works . . .
Understand my frustration my first season sailing my 17', with the rudder lifting
completely free with every grounding, and in the one case mentioned early, shearing a
pintle (gudgeon?) bolt!!!
I could see that, in an accidental grounding, the lifting mechanism would not save my
transom, as I've have to be able to anticipate the shallows and raise the rudder to
avoid catastrophe . . .
Of course, you can point out that charts and depth-sounders could help one avoid such
a problem . . . The chart DID help in Lake Huron, where I avoided trouble in the Les
Chenaux, but let down my guard in Mackinac Island's harbor . . .
This past summer I sailed Ontario's remote Lake Nipigon, up above Thunder Bay,
Superior . . .
We could find no nautical charts for Nipigon . . .
A local fisherman and bait and tackle shop owner sold a land map to us and marked out
shallows with a pen . . .
This worked up to a point, but on the last day, anxious to get back to the launch and
motoring at 3 to 4 knots, we grounded HARD on rocks . . .
I sustained hull and keel damage that has since been repaired . . .
But my rudder kicked up perfectly and I sustained no damage whatsoever . . .
Don't know the outcome if I'd had the lifting mechanism, with the rudder extended . .
.
I've gotten in trouble voicing my observations lately, so please allow me to clarify:
I AM NOT ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF A KICKUP RUDDER CONFIGURATION ON AN M17, nor am I
ARGUING AGAINST THE LIFTING RUDDER ON THE M17 . . .
LET ME BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR: IF JERRY MONTGOMERY AND BOB EEG SAY A LIFTING SOLID
MAHOGANY RUDDER IS SUPERIOR FROM THE STANDPOINTS OF SEAWORTHINESS, DURABILITY AND
PERFORMANCE, YOU DARN WELL BETTER BELIEVE THAT LIFTING SOLID MAHOGANY RUDDERS ARE
SUPERIOR FROM THE STANDPOINTS OF SEAWORTHINESS, DURABILITY AND PERFORMANCE!!!!!
I'm just explaining what I had when I bought my 17', and the solution I've sought to
accommodate the sail-camping and wilderness gunkholing I like to do . . .
To each, ABSOLUTELY, his own . . .
----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: 'For and about Montgomery Sailboats'
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:33 PM
Subject: M17 Rudders
Maria,
Here is a picture showing the block. It would have been better if I had
drilled the holes in the gudgeon slightly more aft (closer to the mahogany)
than I did (I probably could have avoided the chafe that this picture
illustrates). I had left the rudder mounted for a week or two, not raised
completely and the line chafed on the transom gudgeon. I replaced the line
and am careful not to leave the rudder in a position not quite fully raised
and haven't had any more chafing since.
www.bright.net/~htmills/BuscaRudderChafe.jpg
Tod _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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