Here I am, the proud owner of this wonderful sailboat. It was April, and here in the midwest the season starts in May. I didn't want to lose a huge amount of time with a complete re-fit... which this boat sadly needs, so figured I would take on the most important tasks first. The biggest issue that I could see was a rudder that was completely crazed with cracks and splits. I should preface this by pointing out that I'm quite handy, but know diddely squat about rudders!! You tube and the internet was about to become my best friend. I started doing research, and finding out about water infiltration, freezing and popping, pressure changes due to heat, rotting foam core and de-lamination. That's not a daunting list at all! I figured that repairing the ruder might be beyond me, so looked for quotes for professional repair. After receiving the quotes, I decided that I could probably handle the repair quite well on my own after all. This whole "I own a boat" thing was already out of my financial reach, and a new rudder was going to take more than I paid for the whole boat!! Back to research...
My research left me confident that I knew what to look for once I had the rudder off the boat, , but I didn't realize removing it would be such an adventure. My boat steers via tiller, so in theory, it should be very easy to remove. Take off the tiller, and pull! I did this, and the with the occasional wiggle the rudder started to come loose. When the rudder hit the concrete that the boat was standing on, and the shaft was still in the socket I knew I had a small problem!
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| This was supposed to be easy! |
Unfortunately the course of action was to bunce the boatyard $100 to lift the boat. This was not in the budget, and there was going to have to be another lift to put the rudder back. I figured I could do this on the day of launch. They are going to have to lift her any way, so save myself the money. Perfect logic. $100 later and the rudder was in the car. Time to asses the damage and figure out the best way to fix it.
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| The rudder was in bad shape |
Step one was to get rid of years of bottom paint, and to have a look at what I was dealing with. Out with the grinder! After getting rid of all the bottom paint, sanding back to glass and getting everything completely flat I could inspect the rudder to see the extent of the damage. The famous tap test didn't reveal any de-lamination, or voids... which was nice, so I took a router and a v bit, and routed along all the cracks to give more surface area for repair.
The enlarged cracks were filled with thickened epoxy, and once again, everything was sanded flat. To add strength to the repairs the whole rudder was then wrapped with two overlaying layers of fiberglass cloth. I watched a couple of tutorials about this process, and took great care to overlap the layers correctly, and ensure that there was no bubbles of air under the epoxy soaked cloth.
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| Widened cracks filled with thickened epoxy |
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| Two new layers of fiberglass |
The fiberglass left a texture to the surface that I didn't want, so I went over the whole thing with thickened epoxy to give me something I could sand smooth. Once this dried, and was sanded (Seriously, how many more times will I have to sand this damn thing?) I painted two coats of barrier coat, and then my preferred bottom treatment. I also took the time to very carefully seal around the rudder post to prevent water intrusion. The rudder was now ready to go back on the boat.
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| Sanded (Again) and ready for paint |
I was quoted $2,500 for this work, and I completed the project for $250 in materials, and 30 hours for time (Including my research) Not a bad saving if you ask me... It was also fun, and satisfying. Two years on, and the rudder is still in great shape.
When the boat was lifted to be launched, we greased up the shaft, and re-installed the rudder. We did plenty of other projects before this, but more on those another time.
Don't forget to check out episode one of the video diary for more information on this project! More on the other tasks next time.
J
Those of you who know me, know I keep a video diary, and I also run and mediate the "Sail Chicago" Facebook group. Please feel free to join/follow both of these if you wish.
Sail Chicago Facebook Group
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