I finally went! The first trip went much like yours. The forward thwart split at the joint. The tiller, which had been previously repaired, left out in the elements, and then re-repaired by me broke when my buddy leaned on it. The wind was light and shifty and we were surrounded by wakeboarders. Nevertheless we lashed the tiller back together, had a few good reaches and only quit after a wakeboarder wake took out what was left of the tiller. While on the water I created a list of things to fix and we will be out again this weekend or early next week. Hopefully it will go smooth enough so photos can be taken. BTW if you have a chance to measure, what is the distance from the top or your oars to the oar lock stops?