I don't put anything in the bottom of the rudder pins on my 16. As long as you have pins in the top, the rudders will not come off because the upper casting keeps them down.
Unless/until you turtle it....then the whole rudder/tiller/crossbar/hiking stick assembly could easily end up on the bottom of the lake....expensive! I realized what the bottom holes were for the first time I went turtle. I was inexperienced at the time and had no idea what to do next. How to right it came to me slowly, but the "bottom hole" revelation jumped right out at me!
Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mi'sippi
