Among the various tasks I had to perform in order to refurbish the boat was building a tiller and rudder for it. I had thrown together a temporary tiller/rudder set up when I first got the boat. It had worked, but it was time to make ‘real’ steering components for my boat; worthy of being mounted to the transom.
The original tiller and rudder had been lost to history and probably resided at the bottom of some lake, or more likely in the attic of someone’s garage, or maybe even in a land fill. I like to think it found its’ way onto another boat somewhere, serving its purpose to this day. The make shift tiller and rudder I made reside in my back stair well waiting to be used for something. I guess if the new one breaks or falls off the boat I’ll have a spare.
Both Tim and I needed new tillers and rudders. The rudder from Tim’s boat was old and on the verge of falling apart. It was also too small for his boat, especially after he modified the rigging and started using larger sails. There was just too much power in heavy winds for the rudder to function properly. Tim’s tiller was in similar shape due to years of abrasion with the aft stay and the type of wood used (pine), which was weathered and cracked. The real killer is when Tim stood on it to adjust something high up on the aft stay; that’s when it split at the bolts and fell off the bracket. This effectively left us without any means to steer his boat. Not good when you’re under way. Fortunately, a roll of duct tape fixed the problem and Tim continued to use the tiller until he made his new one. Real sailors use duct tape on just about everything.
Using Tim’s tiller and rudder as a template we went about the task of designing the new ones for both boats. They were both roughly the same shape but larger then the original; Tim’s new rudder being bigger then mine. He designed his to be about 40% bigger to enhance the control and stability of his boat. Mine was a complete guess but was at least 20% bigger then the original. Both rudders were designed to hinge in the middle, like the template, to facilitate shallow water maneuvering.
We cannibalized the hinge plates off of Tim’s rudder and used them to design new ones. Since his new rudder was to be much larger, the hinge plates would also require an up-grade in size. The old one’s however, would work fine for my rudder.
Prior to construction we had gathered all the necessary materials to complete our task; this, with many additional trips to Menards for odds and ends. The rudders would be constructed from the straightest un-warped boards we could find; two 2” x 12” x 8’ pieces of pine. Also, enough fiberglass to completely cover the wood once it had been shaped. I my case, I had bought pentals for my rudder from the local boat works. They were the most expensive fittings I acquired for the project. Some things should not be jury rigged. I also bought Tim his new hinge plates from a local aluminum fabrication shop. It was the least I could do, since he gave me his old ones.
To build the rudders we were starting from scratch, except for the design, that is, the shape of the rudder. The rest was a grand experiment. The rudder would consist of two pieces the “Top half” and the “Blade”; both held together by the hinge plate. Once those two pieces were built the fitting could be added including the pentals.
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