Be Careful
Rick, I had the same symptoms about 9 months ago. I ended up losing complete rudder control doing 5 knots in the bay. Bam, the next thing I know, I am doing donuts. I was very, very lucky it happen in open water. I had a hard grounding, combined with electrolicis, I broke my rudder stock and had to replace, (thank god for insurance) the whole rudder. You might go in the water, hold the rudder between your legs and have a friend turn your wheel. If the cables are secure and working right, then you could have something broken inside the rudder. You mentioned you run your 31 aground, insurance covered my grounding and replaced the whole rudder. If I were in your situation, I would check my complete stearing sytem, if OK, I would then do the test I mentioned, if their is play in the rudder, I would pull the boat and then have it checked. I tried scuba gear, underwater flash lights, and still could not see the broken rudder shaft. But after my donuts, and my rudder breaking off, (it does float) I then saw the rip at the end of the rudder stock, right where it entered the rudder. I still thank god for my donuts happening in open water and not in tight quaters, or as I was being passed by a scarf. Pull the boat, have it checked, have insurance pay for the accidential grounding, and start sailing again as soon as possible. Good Luck!!! Daddy's Dream
