![]() ![]() The simple solution was to drill a guide hole through the back of the deck plate. Having the rudder retraction line run over the stern deck plate through a pad eye didn’t work, and the rudder lifted and fell when turned from side to side as the line humped up over the tip of the deck plate. Joel discovered a flaw in our first configuration. The pivoting foot control bar is positioned higher and slightly in front of the foot brace, so the ability to brace and turn the rudder are both present at the same time. The rudder lines slide over the gunwales with no loss of function, which eliminated having to drill holes in the hull and makes installation and removal far easier. And when Joel has it tweaked to perfection we’ re putting one on my Penobscot. I hope to see that rudder in action next week in the Carolinas and later this winter in the Everglades. The rudder and foot controls are lightweight, easily removable and re-installed and the total cost was less than $20 and a couple of hours in the shop. He can still lock in on the foot brace and move the rudder with his toes. We faked some lines on the control bar and Joel had a test sit in the Rendezvous. For the rudder control bar we use a piece of anodized aluminum tubing from a rec kayak rebuild That was some seriously tough spring steel, and we wore out a couple of drill bits making the needed hardware holes. This little tool hanger proved to be the ideal solution. ![]() It needed something trickier.Ģ0 years ago I had a can of Plastic dip, and knowing it would harden I used it up dipping various objects. Because the two sleeved tubes of the foot brace slide during adjustment we couldn’ t simply drill a pivot through the foot brace. Instead of installing foot pedals Joel wanted to use a pivoting bar attached to the existing foot brace. We use the lauan rudder template (Kruger shaped) from the Optima rebuild and it was the perfect size and shape with no additional modification.Ī little more saw work and presto, a rudder.Ī nicely reflective rudder at that (at least on one side)Ī couple of nylon washers and spacers and that puppy works like a charm. Easily fabricated by cutting two triangles from an old aluminum sign and bending a right angle flap on each. Joel had picked up a set of gudgeons from Duckworks, but aside from that $15 piece everything else would need to be made or fabricated from stuff in the shop.Ī little trial and error tape in place and we calculated the best position for the gudgeon. Shop partner Joel has been wanting to put a rudder on his Wenonah Rendezvous for a couple of years now. ![]()
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