Yesterday I painted the rudder (first coat) and made a tiller -- the long handle connected to the rudder that steers the boat. I didn't have any clear instructions on how to make the tiller, so I did some research online and saw a variety of styles. So I decided to take the sturdy but yet easy-to-build rout. It's not necessarily pretty, but it will do the job.The fork part of the tiller will go around the top part of the rudder and will pivot on a pin so I can raise and lower the handle to the desired height. I now just need to figure out how to attach the rudder to the boat...
Here are a couple photos of the boat in it's current state, the daggarboard on the wall, and the 4 new life jackets. Janell and I plan to get nicer life jackets for the two us. These standard orange boxy ones are just the cheep loaner life jackets for guests. :)
3 comments:
Here's an oddball question - I'm writing a book (young adult) in which my character and his friend have been stuck on an island and my character has decided to build a raft to get off. He knows nothing about sailing and has been going through a trial and error process. He now knows he needs a tiller and a rudder (though he doesn't necessarily know what they are called) to steer with. This is a warm weather island with bamboo, coconut trees, a mangrove swamp. What could he hope to find to build himself a tiller and rudder? How sucessful could he be if he tries to tie the two pieces together? I'm thinking not very successful which is fine, the plot dictates that he will not be able to get off the island on the raft. If you were stranded on a tropical island and needed to build a tiller and rudder, what would you do?
He now has a plan for the rudder - but he can't figure out how to attach it to the boat.
Nevermind! He found a way to attach the rudder and tiller. It was wildly unsuccessful, raft is gone, my boy stuck back on the island. Thanks anyway and good luck with your real boat!
Post a Comment