Well had my first mishap with my sailboat. Was fishing for salmon in Prince William Sound right along some rocks. been there most of the day. At high tide a lot of the rocks were under water. Well made the same turn been making all day filling the coolers up. But this time got a little closer to the rocks then what we normally had been. Well caught a fish and the auto tiller was on. Well while bringing the fish in I happen to look down at the depth finder and see it reading 10 feet. I jumped for the tiller just as we hit the rock. My fishing buddy hit the deck at least didn't go over board. The tiller was jammed and the the transom cracked from the outside (cockpit side) corner of the starboard seat up over the top and down the outside to the rub rail. Well we headed right to shallower water and checked for leaks. We found none and fixed the ruder enough to get us the 20 miles back to the harbor. Well had to wait for 2 weeks to get back down to the boat with the trailer to take it out. Other then the crack other damage was limited to a little fiberglass missing from the tiller and the lower hinge brackets being bent. Spent some time straightening them and all seems fine. Well I have to ask are the rudders suppose to pop up if you hit something or are they pinned like mine is so the don't fall off? And any recommendations for fiberglass repair books?
