A frayed rudder line isn't the only thing we have to worry about. My rudder line failed this morning. I don't put the drive unit in nor rudder down until in deep water. It was a normal launch. About a half mile down the beach, the first sign of trouble was the steering knob wasn't helping control direction. The rudder was up in the air instead of being in the water. I moved the up/down knob and nothing happened.
The high tech rudder line is connected to the up/down rudder handle by a cheap plastic tie. The plastic tie where it connected to the rudder cable was rounded and well worn (thin) - about ready to break. The break happened where the tie connects to the handle. (see below photo)
A temporary fix to get the rudder working again was to close the rear hatch on the cable after pulling it tight to keep the rudder down. Whew, sure glad that didn't happen in rough conditions. That could have been disasterous.
I'm willing to bet other rudder lines are connected by plastic ties. The thought of a steering cable breaking while in rough water or swift current is worries me. Going to have to carry some plastic ties and do regular inspections of the rudder connections. Surely there must be a better way to connect the knob handle to the rudder cable.