rudder play

There is so much play in my rudder. The steering arm that it is attached to has lots of play in it. At anchor, the rudder constantly flops around. Very annoying, especially at night. Any solutions for this? I tried putting plastic washers on the attachments to at least soften the noise, but...

My 1984 Catalina 27 has had some lateral play in the tiller for some time - but following a grounding, it has become significantly greater. Sooo, I tried to tighten the bolt which which goes through the rudder shaft ( it was very loose) was very loose and it immediately sheared. I have a few...