Hi Roger,
   Sounds like you hit on an ideal solution (no surprise there).  At some point I may follow suit, although I kinda like a little bit of varnished wood here and there in the cockpit, so long as I can maintain it without too much effort.  I'm curious though, you mentioned two aluminum plates for the rudder blade pivot.  I don't have any such plate...and I do have a bit of wobble in the tiller that I'm hoping to correct.  I wonder if you could describe these plates in a bit more detail.  I know that General Boat designs evolved over time so maybe I'm not supposed to have these.  Is anybody else familiar with these plates?

Thanks,
    Peter

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