Hello<br />I ws 20 miles offshore and had stopped for a few minutes to take a break and noticed aa small oil slick behind my boat. Took off cowling, inside motor is clean as whistle, raise motor and check lower end, no problem. Checked all I could think of and all was well. When I got back to dock and was washing down I noticed a few inches of plastic tubing past my swim platform, hoping it was just trash, I pulled on it, but it was attached to the boat, it was the hydrailuc line for the trim tab.<br />I dove under the boat to see what I had to do to re-attach it.............did ya ever try to laugh under water?? There was nothing to re attach it to, the only thing left was the top of the bracket where the top of the actuator attaches. The actutor and the tab itself were GONE~~!!<br />The moral of the story..................make sure you check and tighten the screws. I assume the screws became loose and it was flapping in the breeze and tht's what caused it to come off. I was 20 miles offfshore and fortunately NOT using the tabs when it ripped itself off. When I told a friend about this, he told me about a guy who WAS using the tabs and doing 30 MPH when one ripped off, it threw the boat into a rapid 90 degree turn and sent his wife sailing into the cabin.<br />Had the top bracket ripped off, I would have had at least a 3/4 inch diameter hole below the waterline.<br />Check ya tabs<br />Bruce
