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

[Jesse Shumaker]

Chris, good insight regarding the wind vs. waves forces.

Thanks,
Jesse
S/V Zephyr

On Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 9:48 AM Chris Geankoplis <chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
> >
>