Hello Todd, Larry and Listers, I struck a shoal area years ago with my M17 on Lake Petenwell in WI. At the time, my rudder pin had lifted up from the lowest gudgeon (no clip in place at the end of the rudder pin). I was moving at hull speed and the force of grounding of the rudder cracked the transon fiberglass around the middle gudgeon. If the rudder rod had been locked in it's proper place I would have either bent the rod or cracked the rudder as Todd experienced. The middle gudgeon was repaired and re-glassed into place, and I had another rudder built using the original as a template. I cut the new rudder so it would hinge and had SS cheek plates made for it to pivot. The mfg kick-up rudder is now the one I use when sailing new areas where the depth is in question. My rudder was documented in the last Monty newsletter before the publication ended, I believe it's in the archives. I don't think my depth sounder would have helped me, the shoal area came up so fast. I was not close to the shoreline, but I was on a river flowage which can and does silt up and hold secrets as to its bottom.
Later, Bones _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
