The first tiller was hacked out of a two-by-four, and I didn't like it, so I made one with layers of mahogany plywood. But the glue job was too sloppy, as I was gluing multiple layers simultaneously, and pieces shifted relative to one another. I thought I might be able to grind it into shape with a grinder, but it came out "skew-wift". So I set it aside and made another, layer by layer, with a slightly different design.
The red line is the rudder blade down-haul line in this photo. It will be snubbed in a quick-release jamb cleat mounted on the port side of the tiller. I realized that the up-haul and down-haul lines for the rudder blade needed to go from the blade to the pivot point of the tiller, so that the line length doesn't change appreciably as the tiller is tilted up. Because the tiller is so long, it would get in the way of rowing if it were not able to be tilted up.
The quick-release cleat allows the rudder blade to pivot up when it hits something, otherwise it's held down so that there is always helm control. I don't trust a blade that's just held down by an internal weight, since some unforeseen event could make it rise at a time when it would be needed most. This way, it needs a solid bump to release it.
The up-haul line will follow the same path along the tiller, ending at a jamb cleat on the starboard side of the tiller.
We had our first dusting of snow today, and the coming week looks like it will be wintery-cold, so I'll probably bring the tiller home and varnish it here, and I might even make the sail! The materials are in a pile awaiting my action.
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