Rudder turned 180 degrees hitting propeller soon after new steering cable installed

[jeremyNJ]

I recently had my steering cable replaced.  I had a marina do it since I was very close to my vacation and didn't want to chance anything going wrong if I did it myself.  A couple of days into my vacation, the lake was pretty rough and I had to back my boat out of the slip.  I ended up punching it a bit too much causing the rudder to be forced back into the propeller.  Luckily I had a spare prop and had to disconnect the rudder from the steering cable in order to get it back into position, so vacation not ruined.

The new steering cable that was just installed was damaged and while it moves freely most of the way, the last full rotation towards starboard is pretty stiff.  I also found the it is difficult to turn the prop by hand which has me concerned that the prop shaft could be bent.

Boat is running well, especially when I'm alone.  When full of people, it seems like it takes a bit longer to get on plane and I think there might be a little bit of vibration while trying to get on plane, but not sure if it was like that before.  How concerned should I be by all of this?

Also wondering if this could be at all caused by the marina that did the initial steering cable replacement, or is all of this on me caused by reversing too hard, likely with the rudder turned to one side?

[csleaver]

When the rudder is turned all the way to the starboard there is a very obtuse angle between the cable and rudder arm.  Throttling hard in reverse can cause the rudder arm to flip over to the other side and turn the rudder backwards.  Many newer rudder assemblies have a large pin on the rudder box backing plate to prevent this from happening.  Loose steering bracket or tube mounting hardware, or a tube adjustment that is biased too far forward on the bracket can also make it easier for the rudder to flip in those conditions. 

Check the strut for a possible bend or binding of the strut cutlass bushings making the propshaft more difficult to turn.  The propshaft runout should be checked and an engine alignment may also be needed.  If the steering cable or tube are damaged they will need replacement. 

I wouldn't recommend operating the boat with the possibility of bent running gear or steering components.