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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