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Catalina's
rivet detent system did not work well. It failed to hold the
rudder firmly forward to the rudder head. There was no pull down
line and after a grounding, the rudder would manually need reset which
meant hanging over the stern and pushing down with ones foot.
After mods to balance the second generation beaching rudder, the rudder head should now be modified with a cheek block and some sort of cleat. The cleat shown is a Cal cleat and was purchased at Harbor Freight and Tools. It's well made of aluminum and stainless. The pull down / hold down line is bungee (I love bungee). The pull up line is stock. This system holds the rudder forward against the stop which is very important to rudder balance. It also returns the rudder forward after a grounding and provides the much needed and much safer (compared to hanging off the stern and pushing down with ones foot) rudder pull down line. The rivets are removed from the rudder and the compression handle left loose enough for easy rotation of the rudder within the head. With concern about the bungee's ability to hold the rudder down, I was prepared to use three strands but very surprised to find that very little force is needed to hold the rudder down and one quarter inch bungee does the job fine. I have never had the rudder kick back since making the mod except when grounding. While Catalina experienced enough problems that they ultimately decided to discontinue offering the beaching rudder, it is my opinion that this is unfortunate. Those problems were mostly the result of the poor operation of the hold down system which allowed the rudder to trail aft. The fix was simple and effective. As I have assisted others in milling the beaching rudder frame to make the modification to balance the 2nd generation rudder, I have noted that the aluminum frame suffers some in salt water. Even in fresh water, the stainless bolts should be treated prior to insertion into the frame to prevent galvanic corrosion. Its helpful to drill out those threaded holes in the aluminum frame and use stainless bolts and nuts. |
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