Mooring a San Juan

[BadgerJuan]

I am planning on mooring my boat here in Wisconsin on Lake Mendota this summer and have a couple of questions. Being very new to sailing (having purchased the boat last September), these questions may seem basic, but please be patient.

1. The boat has a kick up rudder made of varnished wood. The rudder seems to be held in the down position by a bunch of bungee chords. Is this the intended design? While it seems to work, it strikes me as an odd. I don't see these chords mentioned in the manual anywhere.

2. When mooring the boat, do you keep the rudder installed when not using the boat? If so, that means I need to paint the portion of the rudder that stays in the water. I also assume the the UV from the sun would be hard on the bungee chords.

3. I plan to drill out and re-bed the deck hardware before the season starts to prevent deck core damage from the increased exposure. Is there anything else I should consider addressing?

Now we just need spring to arrive. This morning, the temp was 10 degrees when I woke up. The lake is still frozen and under a foot or so of snow. I'm really looking forward to getting the boat out again.

[cklamp]

Hey Badger, basic questions are totally fine:)

1) not sure, got pics? It could be some replacement rudder...
2) no, take the rudder off so it doesn't bang around. Of course, it won't hurt to take some time to smooth it out, and paint it anyways.
3) Check everything... Shrouds, boom, book yoke, foot of the mast, windows for leaking, pintles/gudgeons for cracks in the weld, etc...

Later
Christian