Outback 2016: Rudder won't go down and steers to left - HELP

[filippo]

Hi

When I landed at shore I forgot to pull the rudder up and the cord was still tied to the cleat (big mistake, I know), dragging the rudder blade on sand and breaking the pin. I've replaced the pin successfully and the rudder doesn't work as well now.

Now when I try to put the rudder down, the blade hits the stern of the kayak and won't go down. I have to manually lift it up and place it down, which means I have to do this before I hit the water -- if I forget I'm screwed. Also, steering to the right is a bit harder now but stays in place, and the rudder control knob tends to shift left way too easily, may times on its own too. My guess is that the cables got tied too much when the rudder dragged into the sand, but I still can't explain why the blade shifts and hits the kayak when I try to pull it down.

Any help is appreciated it.

Thanks