Thanks, everybody.

Glad to hear it doesn't take a righting pole. Didn't know that, so wanted to be safe. I'll do as suggested without a pole and file the research away for a bigger cat. Or like Rick says, just buy his pole.

Other particulars:

The pic really is a u-joint. I had to verify it myself. Bad picture.

Pole compression. You're right. Looks like there would be some side forces involved. There's a 3/4" u-joint for $35. That's already about half the cost of Rick's setup w/o the pole. Plus his comes with the rest of the hardware, etc.

Righting on land. Sounds like a plan this evening.

I'll be out early tomorrow morning on the lake.

Have a good weekend sailing,
Danno