[Rhodes22-list] rudder position when leaving the boat in the slip

[Chris Geankoplis]

Hey Jesse,
                 For the last 45 years I have left it up.  I usually
cant it over to port (rudder) and it rest on the tilted motor secured with
a bungie.  There are a few occasions when due to the proximity of a dock or
obstruction directly aft I must leave it down, but almost always it is up.
The forces of wind on the rudder are much less than the forces of the waves
and water acting on the rudder, hence my choice.

Chris G
Enosis

On Sat, Oct 17, 2020 at 8:47 PM Jesse Shumaker <
jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:

> This season I had a slip and left the rudder in the lowered position for
> convenience since that is one less thing to adjust in the start / end of
> sail sequence.  Due to the accumulated grime/slime of our muddy lake (made
> worse by dredging this year) it took a bit of leverage to pull up the
> rudder when it came time to take the boat out.  I cleaned off the rudder
> like I did with the bottom of the boat.  I see some boats in the slips with
> kick-up rudders that leave them down, and others that leave them up.  I use
> a shock cord to secure tiller to the aft cleat on the port side and with
> the rudder down that seems quite secure.  Leaving the rudder up would
> result in more windage and more force on the tiller due to the leverage of
> having the weight extended.  Just curious to hear from others who keep
> their boats in slips: do you leave the rudder up or down when the boat is
> docked at the slip?
>
> Jesse Shumaker
> S/V Zephyr
>