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South Coast Seacraft
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I have a 78 southcoast 22 sv Lil'Bit that I have started slowly restoring in between sails. I just finished cleaning up the sink area, and refinishing the wood, which had been painted over by the previous owner. I am in the process of adding a little cabinet for the VHF and maybe a CD player. I did have the pleasure of replacing my tiller after my maiden voyage on Pamlico Sound. It was a fairly windy day, and I was kind of debating whether I sound venture out in the sound. I had just bought the Lil Bit and I wasn't sure I was ready for this type of weather. Looking across the sound I could see what looked to a lake person to be pretty good size waves. White caps were all over the place. Course I had just driven the 3 hours to get here and I wasn't about to head back home. Once I got out in it though it was a blast. Spray was coming up in the cockpit, the waves were just big enough to be kind of exciting. It was one of those rides that borders between exhilarating and down right scary. Towards the end of the day, there was still a pretty stiff breeze and I'm making a nice downwind run with following seas. We're coming down the backside of a swell and I hear this creeeaaakkk.. Snap. Things got very exciting very quickly. I can tell you that little boat will round up quick. Once it got pointed into the wind, I ran up and lowered the sails, and bobbed for a while as I looked over the remains of my tiller. I had been so anxious to get out on the water that I wasn't really prepared for such a situation as I had no radio on board. I was lucky in that I was pretty much straight up wind of the marina, so I was able to rig the tiller enough to make it back in under bare poles. Not realizing the amount of pressure that a tiller gets, I had not bothered to run the screw through the back of the tiller and the rudder just wedged it apart. The tiller was such a tight fit over the rudder I hadn't needed the screw to hold it in place, so I thought anyway. Back home, I happened upon a wheelbarrow handle that looked to be just about right. Has a nice varnish to it and I think it should be strong enough to hold up. I also added a VHF radio as my first boat purchase. Rob Johnston Raleigh, North Carolina
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