Transom Hung Rudder Problem!!!!!

[max_hyde]

Hi, Whilst working on the boat I noticed a small amount of what appeared to be rust, seeping from near to one of the rudder mounts on the rudder, I ground out a little of the resin, then glass and finally reached plywood which was dark in colour and quite smelly!

I decided to remove the rudder, which lifted off quite easily after removing the restraining strap, but as I loaded it onto my roof-rack I turned it upside down and around 2 pints of saltwater came out of the holes where the tiller attaches to the rudder.

The water was clear, salt water, which was sitting somewhere in the rudder, the bottom half  I believe is a stainless steel frame covered in glass fibre and filled with foam, the top half is plywood covered in glass and resin then painted, there are two mounts in the plywood, and one bottom mount and a bolt for a restraining strap.

My plan is to use paint stripper to completely remove the outer coats, grind, cut back the glass to get to the ply, cut out what cant be saved then replace or fill with glass, then recover in epoxy.

The boat cannot go in the water this year due to an engine mounting problem so the rudder, once stripped will be left to dry for 6-9 months before I rebuild it, any suggestions as to any problems I may face, Cheers max
(the boat is an invicta 26, similar to a contessa 26)

[max_hyde]

Ok, took all the paint off using paint stripper, now have a better idea of the problem.

The bottom half of the rudder is sandwich construction, outside is glass and there is a centre filling of some white substance, possibly polyester resin with talc?, there are a few small (1-2mm) holes in the glass outer skin and filler centre, undoubtedly some water has got in through here.

The top part of the rudder is ply which has been covered with a white filler, which doesn't appear to be too hard, (polyester resin with talc or microfibres?).

I wonder if saltwater has got in through the bottom, why it only came out when I turned the rudder upside down?  ???

My plan is to dig out the filler, in the top part of the rudder, to allow the ply to dry, then refill, with epoxy filler, sand fair then epoxy coat numerous times, sanding between coats, hopefully this will solve the problem. When I dig out the filler I should find where the rust color is coming from.  ;D

For the bottom will fill, then coat with epoxy.

All fittings are rock solid!

As an aside the rudder was refurbed about 12years ago, will contact the PO to find out to what extent.

Am I heading in the right direction?

Cheers Max

[maxiSwede]

@Max Hyde

Don't know if this will do you any good, but the Folkboat (GRP ) I used to have -and the Contessa26 and others are very inspired from- did come with a sandwich built rudder, filled with foam. I assume this was to keep them from getting to heavy. Anyway, it's a well known and common phenomena that they soak water like sponges.

Most owners, including lots of racers, simply drill a couple small holes near the bottom of the rudder to let the water drain when the boat goes on the hard for winter (I used to live in Sweden before taking off last year)

I recall hearing that some guys had their rudders damaged if water captured inside froze and thus expanded....

But if you've go ply (?) inside.... you'd better get it out I guess, because that stuff rots fairly quick.

[Chattcatdaddy]

How hard or costly would it be to build a new rudder with materials that would solve the problem forever? Just food for thought...

[max_hyde]

Thats a good question, posed it to my advisors in the boatyard (you know the ones who stand around tutting whenever you do something!!!!) Some went go new, others said you'll never get one built as solid!

The PO had the same problem 12 years ago, so he sent it away, it was split, checked and reglassed, will start grinding later in the week and see what we got!

All advice gratefully recieved!

Cheers Max

Uploaded some pictures of the yacht, The album name is Swedman

[Godot]

If it were me, I think I'd try and cut the skin off to expose the plywood, let it dry for awhile, apply some penetrating epoxy if there is damage to the plywood, and reskin.  The good news is that salt water is healthier for wood than fresh water, so maybe it isn't too bad.

I don't think I'd build a new rudder unless I was pretty certain the old rudder was in rough shape.

But that's me. YMMV.

[max_hyde]

Ok, have removed all the paint and antifoul, drilled a number of holes to help drain the water and assist drying, the plan at the moment is to use a router to grind down the top part (now named the stock) down to about 1" where I believe the plywood is and let it dry out,  Will then cut out any rotten pieces replace with marine ply, epoxy and then use a 3mm plate of stainless, shaped to fit inside the stock and bolt in place as a sort of cover plate both sides. Hopefully sandwich the wood and the stainless frame which continues to the base of the rudder.

The bottom part of the rudder is foam filled and appears to be easy to dry out.

So far so good....................