Old Town Castine Rudder - Manual (Page 2)

bottom end the seat bolt. The cables should run to the outside of the kayak. Reinstall the
washer and lock nuts that hold the seat in place. (Illustration #6)
7. At this point, you should decide which side you want to have the raising cord for the rudder
(usually on the opposite side of the paddle holder.) Drill a 3/16” hole 3” forward from the
front seat bolt and 1” up from the parting line. A cable clamp needs to be placed on the deck
for the raising cord bungee. This is accomplished by putting a cable clamp on the rivet
before it is placed in the drilled hole then place a small flat washer on the underside of the
hull. Set the rivet using a pop rivet tool. (Illustrations #7)
8. Remove the Keeper footbraces that came with your kayak, you will not need them again.
Replace the old footbraces with the footbrace track, included in your kit. Use the existing
holes of the old footbraces. Male sure to put the foot pedal on at this point. Put the three
consecutive drilled holes (in the footbrace track) towards the bow end of the kayak and
secure with the 1” long bolts (large) and -20 lock nuts using the Phillips head screwdrivers
and 7/16” wrench. Use the 3/4" (1/2”) long bolts and the barrel nuts (threaded part of the
barrel nut goes into the foot track hole) to secure the footbrace track to the hull (the hole
closest to the seat.) Tighten the 3/4"(1/2”) bolt into the barrel nut (a barrel nut is used here
because the foot pedal needs to travel freely over the area.)
9. With your black marker - mark the rudder cable 6” back from the bow end of the rudder
cable. Put two swages onto the rudder cable and slide the two swages to this mark – slip the
loop (on the footbrace pedal adjustment strap) onto the rudder cable. Loop the rudder cable
back around and slip the rudder cable back into the swages. Clamp the swages tight around
the cable with vice grips or pliers. (NOTE: Make sure the rudder cable does not stick out
beyond the end of the last swage.) (Illustration #8)
10. Attach the stern ends of the cables to the outer holes on the rudder. Place a stamped washer
on each 10-24 x 1” bolt (small) and drop them down through the holes on the rudder. Place
a large flat washer then the cable loop then another large flat washer onto the bolt and
secure with a 10-24 locknut. (NOTE: Tighten the nut, being careful to leave enough room for
the cable to move freely.) (Illustration #9)
11. Tying the raising cords on the rudder: Fisherman’s Knot: A. Lay your two ropes side by
side, the ends pointing in different direction. You will need about 15” of free end on each
rope. B. Moving towards the second line’s free end, wrap the free end of the first line twice
around the standing part of the second so that the coils wrap around both ropes. Push the
free end through the center of the coils, leaving a 2–4 inch tail. C. Repeat by wrapping the
second line around the first in the opposite direction and on the other side, and then push the
free ends through the coils. Tighten the knot by pulling the standing ends of both ropes. You
can adjust the length of your raising cord by sliding the knots apart. (Illustration #10)
12. Stretch the rudder raising cord forward along the topside of the deck you mounted the cable
clamp to in step 7. Clip the hook end of the raising cord bungee to the raising cord, between
the two knots you just tied. Remove the cord lock from the end of the raising cord bungee
and slide the end of the raising cord bungee through the cable clamp on the topside of the
deck. After the raising cord bungee is through the cable clamp, replace the cord lock to keep
tension on the raising cord. (Illustration #7)
13. Rivet the jam cleat in line with the raising cord on the side deck. Position the jam cleat
approximately 12” back from the rear seat bolt alongside the raising cord (if the 12” mark
falls to close to any obstacles – move the jam cleat back or forward a few inches.) Use small
flat washers on the underside of the rivets when mounting the jam cleat, secure with a pop
rivet tool. The sloped side of the jam cleat should be facing the stern of the kayak so that
when the cord is in the cleat, it can be pulled out in the forward direction but will not slip out
when there is tension from the stern. (Illustration #11)