spade rudder would not have had that problem!

OK, a cheap shot I guess. Certainly this story tells much better than some of the others recently, a real effort to solve the problem and save the boat, hesitancy to push the red button on the EPIRB, etc.

But it does go to show that any rudder system can have problems, and those problems can cascade. Mine is behind the rear watertight bulkhead so I think even if it tore out completely the boat would still float. I think....