betzhunter said:
Just curious to know who you got your new quadrant from? And I thought they were custom made to your boat? I need to replace mine and they said it would be 2-3 weeks from a edson dealer.

I was amazed we got it that fast. The marina called the order in on Monday afternoon and they shipped the part on Wednesday. I'll find out who they ordered it from if I can and let you know.

POTL

Here is my last and final update on the broken steering quadrant. The final repair bill from our marina was about $1500.00. We had no luck with the insurance company because our deductible is 1600.00. The charter company swore up and and down that the charter people did not do anything wrong but here is the story I have been able to piece together. The second day out the charter people took the boat to Devils Island which is known for dicey anchoring because of all the boulders. They dropped the anchor anyway on a windy day and went ashore. When they came back they tried to get the anchor up but could not because it was lodged in the rocks. Now they told the charter company they did not try to use the boat's engine to pull the anchor up and instead just cut it loose (I have lots of life jackets on board-you couldn't tie a jacket or a floaty to it???). The charter company told us that the steering quadrant broke after they left Devils Island BUT in a strange twist of fate a friend of mine who crews for a sailing club on another lake in Minnesota got a copy of the club newsletter which they forwarded to me and it just happened to have a story in it about some of those club members who took a weekend charter in the Apostles Islands on a boat named Emmanuel. The story describes what happens and states quite clearly the steering quadrant broke at Devils Island. The scenario that is easy to envision is this. The anchor is stuck so they motor up to right over the anchor, shorten the rode, drop the tranny into reverse and hit the throttle. The wheel spins too fast, the rudder slams over and breaks the rudder stop and the quadrant cracks. When we suggested this to the charter company they pooh poohed us and insisted again the failure happened at a much later time. Yeah, right.
So, we were stuck for the entire repair bill. The only good news is there was no damage to the rudder and the new steering quadrant is quite a bit beefier than the old one. In regards to the anchor the charter company did pop for a new 44lb Lewmar claw and 50 ft of high test chain.

I do have to say a good word about my marina, Pike's Bay in Bayfield. Marina Manager Steve Linton got to work on the day the boat came back and found a new quadrant and arranged for the shipping of the quadrant. The day the quadrant arrived they hauled the boat, dropped the rudder, replaced the quadrant and got it back in the water all in the same afternoon. They are a fabulous crew and I can't thank them enough.

As soon as I can find out where they new steering quadrant was purchased from I will post it.

Thanks for all the good feedback and the support everyone.

POTL