Rudder and Tiller

Here's a pic of the rudder. Two pieces of half inch plywood with a bolt joining them together. This arrangement gives a pivot so the rudder can pivot up if it hits a submerged object or when you want to beach the boat. I used a door hinge to mount the rudder to the transom instead of the traditional gudgeons and pintles. I already had the hinge laying around and the idea of this boat is to be inexpensive to build so it seemed like a match to me. I'm into the idea of shabby sheik and don't mind adapting it to a sailboat :)

Here's a view of the other side of the rudder. The hinge is mounted on top of a .5" thick piece of plywood which acts as a spacer and allows the rudder to swing fully in both directions with out binding on the transom. On the inside of the transom I have a large backing plate of .5" plywood to better support the hinge and rudder. I took out the hinge's pin and replaced it with a quarter inch galvanized bolt. The idea being that I can quickly remove the bolt and remove the rudder for trailering. I still need to shape and trim the rudder and will post a pic of that latter.

Here you see my tiller and extension. It's 8 foot long which is longer than the plans call for. I had an 8 foot 1X3 so I just used the full length thinking I can shorten it latter if needed. I think I may like having a little extra reach forward. I haven't tried it yet but I think I might be able to reach the mast while still holding the tiller. Could be a good thing. We'll see.