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Actually, this wasn't a particularly light grounding. More of the "beating the rudder against the bottom in a surf zone" kind of night. Combination of a shoal where I wasn't expecting one, wind way worse than forecast and some wrap-around waves that hit me when I thought I was protected. As far as I could tell, the anchor didn't drag, but the extra 20' of rode I let out when I woke to wind screaming in the rigging and waves rocking my world was enough to put the rudder in danger. "Knowing" that I was in four feet of water slowed my recognition of the 'new noise' as grounding long enough to doom the gudgeon (and any chance of rest for the next 12 hours).
So I got the gudgeon back from the fabricator yesterday and I'm not happy. Two friends recommended this guy, but this doesn't seem to be what he's good at. I'll put it back on the boat and go sailing until I get a better solution, but it's ugly, doesn't fit well (I left him the boat to measure against) and the reinforcements will just move the stress points to another weak point. And I'll probably have to dremel the welds to get the screws to bed. Ack!
Anyone want to post photos/details of their elegant solution or go in on a nice bronze casting? Are the scantlings on the 24 and any other models the same as the 20?
-Brent (Nimble 20, Morgan Truce)
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Nimble Forum
Busted Gudgeon Club 
-- Brent - N20 -- 1/27/08 4:16p.m.
Rd: Busted Gudgeon 
-- Paul Miller, Nimble 20, Deland, FL -- 1/27/08 5:24p.m.
Still need a gudgeon 
