Mr. Bill, all I can tell you is that bilnik was right: Dirigo fastened the deck to the hull of the earlier Dirigos with clear silicone and aluminum rivets. This method leaked along the rivets (still does on my boat) and when I wrote to Dirigo about it, they said that they were converting to stainless steel nuts & bolts. They said that they'd upgrade my boat if I shipped it back to them, but I said thanks but no thanks. This would have had nothing to do with altering the rudder pedals.

By the way, I did see a photo of a Dirigo 17 taken no later than 1984 that was without a rudder. Did you ever get a chance to check your boat's serial number for its date of manufacture?

Don't get too used to the Dirigo's extraordinary stability, if you're going to be paddling some other, narrower boat on vacation. There will be a BIG difference with a narrower boat.