MixingWizzard

I didn't sink!

The gap doesn't actually look that rusty in real life, it just looks like that plate is not tightened down on one side. I also have a relatively stiff tiller so I suspect it might have taken a knock at some point.

Ah, that's good to know. Yes it was running at full tilt so quite a lot of turbulent water kicked up. The water actually comes through under that bolted plate, but it was coming through at a fair rate. It's a semi-cruiser so it was washing on to the deck but mostly went down the drain holes. Thanks for the reassurance.

Hey all, I'm new to boating so please forgive my ignorance. I'm doing the Ribble Link crossing tomorrow. A marine engineer I met on the way over recommended that I check my engine at full revs while moored up (it's a Beta 38). The engine seems happy enough however I'm getting quite a lot of water ingress from where the tiller stem goes through the hull (I'm not sure what this is called). I just wondered if this is a serious issue. I had a go at tightening the two bolts but I only have a small rattle gun with me so I didn't have much luck shifting them. I've attached a picture. Many thanks, MixingWizzard