it works now

etc/tunnelkeeper.conf

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ Host *
   TCPKeepAlive yes
   ServerAliveInterval 15
   ServerAliveCountMax 3
+  ControlMaster auto
+  StrictHostKeyChecking no
   
 # Examples
 #

tunnelkeeper

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ function debugopt () {
   case "$(awk "/^$1/ {print \$2}" ${DEBUGCONF})" in
     2) echo -n '-v';;
     3) echo -n '-vvv';;
+    *) echo -n '';;
   esac
 }
 
@@ -36,7 +37,8 @@ function dbg () {
 }
 
 function connect () {
-  ssh -F "${SSHCONF}" "$(debugopt $1)" -o "ControlMaster auto" -o "StrictHostKeyChecking no" -S "$BASEDIR/var/$1.tksock" -N $1 '#tunnelkeeper' 2>&1 | dbg $1
+  bo="$(debugopt $1)"
+  ssh -F "${SSHCONF}" $bo -o -S "$BASEDIR/var/$1.tksock" -N $1 '#tunnelkeeper' 2>&1 | dbg $1
 }