After a long and miserable winter I finally got my boat back on the beach, rigged and ready to shake down. We pushed off the beach into a direct onshore wind with wave action at dead low tide and struggled to get into water deep enough to lock the rudders. I popped the port rudder down okay and moved over to the starboard side to do the same but it won't lock. Damn...everything worked so well in my backyard.
After the third push with a little more force, the top of my rudder just snapped off at the bolt hole leaving my rudder arm, upper casting and crossbar flapping in the breeze. I quickly gibed with the port rudder and got right back to the beach. I went home and got a spare rudder I had on hand but, while changing it out, I also noticed the cam on the port side had a split in it. I always keep a spare with me and changed it out too. Now I'm a little nervous as my wife reminds me that bad things happen in threes. We gear up and take off anyway but, on the third or forth tack, my crew gets a little too far forward as we hit a puff. I momentarily lose my balance as the boat pitches forward and fail to release the main sheet in time to keep from getting dumped into the 58 degree water. We righted the boat and, with a few bumps and bruises, ended up having a pretty good day. A very auspicious beginning for Summer 2010!