Recent content by B I Tom

This string includes a discussion of the plastic tube in the old rudder assembly. Mine was damaged, but this year it finally fell apart. I am on an island in Lake Michigan and supplies are limited. There is a hardware store, though, and I got from them two 5.25" pieces of polypropylene...

This appears to be too short. I want to call them and see if they have a longer one, but they are closed until Monday.

This appears to be the vertical pin, right? It is 6" long. I wrote the seller to confirm and see if they have the horizontal pin.

Exactly. I will check the dimensions on the one you found against mine tomorrow and if it fits I will order one. Does it say somewhere that it fits the Sunfish? I didn't see that it did. Thanks!

It's not seized. It's broken off so that the flat part doesn't stick out when it is in the unlocked position. Sorry, sort of hard for me to describe. If you can rotate it 90 degrees it works, but that is hard to do because there is no protruding part to push.

Got it. Thanks.

Over the winter I cleaned up and refinished the dagger board, rudder and tiller. They look great. I had to replace a few of the old brass or bronze fasteners. Now I have sailed this boat several times on Lake Michigan where we spend the summer (I'm retired) and I love it! I think I have...

Thanks for this very helpful response. I'm glad that there even IS a "defender of the old rudder." My boat is also a '71. I do know that the rudder tube is still there, but I will take a look when I get possession of the boat to be sure it is in good shape. I have not been able to figure out...

Thanks. I have not taken possession of the boat yet, but will check this all out when I get the boat. I think the screw holding the bottom plate still bites into whatever is under there, but I will keep an eye on that after sailing the first few times.From my inspections, it does not appear...

I have just acquired my first Sunfish. It has the old style rudder. I have found lots of information about what is wrong with the old rudder, but not much about how to actually operate it. This thread comes the closest. I am interested in general advice but also have some specific questions...