Spring isn’t that far away and the summer season will be hot on it’s heels. If you haven’t had a close look at your boat during winter, then now is the time to check it over. In particular your rudder gudgeons, these little fittings out the back end are often overlooked, being outside the normal sphere of vision. They should be checked for cracking, especially the bottom one around the forward hole as a broken gudgeon could really ruin your day. I believe that Ronstan don’t make or carry these fittings any more and if you need new ones then suitable fittings are available from Schaefer in the USA through Sparloft in NZ. John from Sparloft tells me that these fittings also need some strengthening, he also offers a custom made unit that will fit the existing Ronstan fitting hole positioning. Cost for either unit (Schaefer without any extra strengthening) is approx $200NZ for one fitting or $380NZ for a pair – plus postage.
So now is the time to check as you won’t get these overnight. Happy sailing.