Rob,
I dropped the bulk of the message, so I could just inquire about this part:
Attach the tiller to the rudder shaft with a horizontal pin running at right angles to the blade, ie athwartships. This allows the tiller to stay horizontal if the rudder kicks up. It also allows you to flip the tiller over when steering with both rudders so that the front one is over the tramp and to steer you push or pull both extensions which is much more intuitive than pulling one and pushing the other. Means shorter extensions as well.
It would seem that mounting the tiller this way would require it to be fixed to the shaft at the top, and with a lifting shaft, your rudder attachment point could be 6' above the crossbeams. I know that bothers me esthetically, but I don't know if there are practical problems with it. The only thing I can think of again relates to what happens when the rudder kicks up. If the shaft kicks 45 degrees and is 6 feet up, that is a LOT of movement.
- Gardner
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