Rudder fitting for 12ft boat

[TopT]

Hello again, been around but not got much done, I think its 12 months since I was on here.
Moving slowly along though, fitted the engine  (mostly), fitted the cubby cover and painted and varnished over most. Just the top rail and the stern paint to do.

Concentrated on the rudder - I bought a wood one which should fit with some alterations because it came off of something larger.
The higher hinge will fit where the masking tape is.

I'm puzzled by the cut out on the top where the tiller fits - would this be some fitting would allow the tiller to be raised, if so then I might try and incorporate something similar.
Any ideas or a pic would be nice.
Thanks
Tony.

[Chris Waite]

Hallo Tony

I had to think about this one for a minute or two.  The only reason I could come up with is that there was some sort of extra rubbing strake or similar, across the top of the transom on the last boat the rudder served, so this would have allowed a greater range of movement when steering.  I notice that there seemed to have been another fitting at this level - probably the/an upper pintle.

Never mind, get right up and ignore it.  I have found that making the tiller so that it lifts has a number of advantages:

1.  If you're sitting comfortably somewhere in the vicinity, you can lift it over your leg or head, or whatever, to avoid having to move your own lazy carcass - well that's how I view myself anyway.

2.  If you decide to stand up to see what is happening in a tight space, or to stretch your legs, then you can still hold the thing without having to crouch.  I actually jam it against my lumbar spine, holding it there with one hand; it props you up and stabilizes you while you allow your legs to flex with the roll of the boat.

3.  The space in the aft end of my boats is not usually so very generous and to get full deflection of the rudder itself I often have to lift the tiller up over the coaming, or offset outboard, or some such:



This is taken from a larger picture so is pretty fuzzy stuff, but I am fighting the sheet while tacking and the unpainted wooden tiller can just about be seen lifted over the starboard coaming using the extension to get full deflection of the rudder.  Note the hole in the rudder stock, while tiller sized at the leading edge, is much deeper at the aft section to allow vertical movement of the tiller itself.

Again here on my little gaffer, the tiller has to be lifted to clear the outboard when it is in its well:



Let me know if you want a better picture of the rudder stock arrangement

Chris

[TopT]

I think I'm going to put this on the back burner for a while - I can always do it as an add-on extra later.
Thanks for the input.
Tony.