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03 / 12 / 00 The inside of the lazerett with the steering mechanism hooked up. The sheathed cable runs from the tiller thru a block around the steering shaft, where it is attached with an adjustable clamp to a block on the other side of the hull and back to a turnbuckle attached to the other side of the tiller. My steering modificaiton is shown in a drawing.
03 / 12 / 00 This picture was taken through the opening in the transom looking directly down the tiller. Both the tiller and shaft are oak.
03 / 12 / 00 The wheel was attached to the shaft with some brass plates instead of plywood.
09 / 15 / 01 I was very surprised when the steering cable broke as described in the log. The wear on the cable was obvious. It was confined to the area where the cable was in contact with the blocks. There was no sign of chafing or wear on the block housing. The sheathing was worn off at this point. It is my guess that the tension and almost constant movement on the cable at this point was more than the cable was designed for. I am still amazed that the cable broke. The cable was very good for not having to adjust it over time.

Since I have no good explanation for why this happened I decided to use a low-stretch line and make some other modifications more like the original design called for. The shaft attachment was moved forward (it should be closer to where the steering clutch hits). This allows the blocks to run horizontal rather than vertical as I had them. I still have a turnbuckle for adjustment. This requires a knot at both each end of the line.

The steering seems to work quite well with this arrangement, however there seems to be quite a bit of play develop after use. I believe the buntline hitches used are not holding as well as I would like (they are supposed to slip).

I have replaced the knots with rope clamps. These small metal clamps with 2 screws hold 2 ropes and make a very nice attachment for a rope eye. They hold very tight and are easy to set up.