After much ado, I decided I didn't like using two tillers and a shifter with less than three hands, so a wheel steering conversion seemed in order. Here's what I opted do do:
1) Upgrade my tiller outboard to a different one with remote
2) Install a factory pedestal setup from a Macgregor 26M.
3) Use a dual cable rack and pinion steering system — with one cable to control the motor and the other for the rudders.
That's the basic plan. It turned out to be quite a job — defintely not for the faint of heart. So please don't take this simple presentation to mean it was easy. I think I invested about 80 hours and $1,000 plus the motor upgrade.
Step 1 – Here's the first set of about a dozen or so holes I added to the boat — this batch went into the cockpit floor — which gave me quite an odd feeling as I drilled.