The tiller is a weak spot on the M17. I've broken one in the heat of action by dropping the boom on it while pulling down the main without the topping lift engaged. I performed emergency surgery at the marina using ss screws so I could keep going for the weekend, but brought it home and glued and screwed as Howard suggests.
I happened to have a new one at home, so I replaced it with that, but I keep the old one and now carry it as an emergency spare in case I perform that swift move with the boom again. t On Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 7:04 AM, Howard Audsley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Robbin: > > Having been to the Chesapeake a few times, I can say that the only time > my rudder has grounded has been out there. A lot of Bay is shallow > (even a mile or so from shore). In fact, that was probably the biggest > surprise I got from the Bay. How shallow much of it is. > > While the M17 rudder does raise and lower, even when the rudder is all > the way up, it's the first part of the boat to "find land". If the Bay > was home a kick up rudder might be nice. The M15's come that way. Short > of making your own (doable), Ida Sailer might be the way to go. > > As for the tiller, it sounds like yours may be laminated, and if so, as > long as you clean up the old joint so the epoxy has something to stick > to, it should be fine. You gotta be careful not to over clamp it or > else you will squeeze out the glue and you will get a weak joint. Mine > tiller was one piece, but it too split. So I made a new one. > > http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n165/haudsley/200209181932166-1.jpg > > In one of the Pardey books, I read where Larry's test of a tiller was > to block it up on both ends and be able to jump up and down on it in > the middle. So I made mine out of a piece of quarter sawn white oak. It > passed the jump test and I weigh 200 pounds. I was reminded of this > recently when I read the account of Charlie Whipple and "Resolution". > When he made it topsides, he still had time to save her, except he > found his tiller had snapped (it had been lashed for self-steering). So > he had no way to steer the boat off the rocks. As is often the case, > sounds like Larry was right again. > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
