In article ,
DSK wrote:
Mooron it's not gay at all. The purpose it to make sure steering and
all steering componants are working properly.

That's a rather pathetic way of "checking the steering." It
tells you almost nothing at all, might not even tell you if
the rudder is turning.

On the Y30, you can see the rudder, and you can see the alignment on
the rudder post without going below. For day in and day out sailing,
checking the chock to chock and using your eyes is adequate. That's
quite different than doing regular maintenance checks a few times a
year, whare is also appropriate.

A better way is to crawl into whatever space (usually
inaccessible except by midgets) the actual steering gear is
in, and carefully watch the gear work as somebody else turns
the wheel... checking sheaves, calbes, bearings, etc etc at
several points along the way. Takes about ten minutes but
you should only have to do it two or three times a season
instead of "every time."

--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com