![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Anyway; she's an ongoing fixer-upper and my last time out the bolt securing the tiller to the rudder shaft sheared!
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
It appears to be original tiller, with the original cheeks, but was attached with a bolt and nut; with the bolt passing through a hole in the rudder shaft that was aligned with the hole in each tiller cheek. Fender washers were placed as spacers to fill the gap between cheek and shaft (about 6 on each side).
This doesn't seem original and I keep reading that there are rope lines to raise and lower the rudder. There are no lines on mine; perhaps discarded?
Anyway I replaced the bolt with a hardened one from an engine shop (should not shear again) and I notice the boat steers a little differently -- and seems to really want to head into the wind on a broad reach.
Is it possible that the rudder flipped 180 degrees? The shaft seems to telescope a bit and I had to pull it up to find the hole I passed the bolt through. Is it safe to try and rotate it another 180 degrees with the tiller on?
Also there is no "rudder collar" (the ring with the set screws, that sits below the tiller cheeks that I see in the manual). Is this to keep water from running down the shaft?
Many thanks,
~ Brice