[Public-list] Wooden rudders on old Albergs

[Don Campbell]

Hi Hugh;
    I did not post to the public list. I usually mention too many brand 
names to keep George happy, so avoid that if we still want a chat line. 
I would suggest you contact Gougeon's in Michigan. They have a 1-800 
number for their technical help line available from any of their 
publications and I don't think it fair commerce to give that number out 
without you buying their $3.00 booklet on how to repair fiberglass 
boats. If you cannot find it on the rock,  check out their website at 
www.westsystem.com I think it is.
    I wonder about doing the whole thing before you leave and doing a 
really fine job of glassing in the wood. If you do call the tech line, 
you will be talking to one of their shop guys who works with both epoxy 
and problems on a day to day basis. He will have made many wooden 
rudders too. I found their advice priceless when I redid the whole of 
the deck on #528. I used their epoxy too.
    I have made a rudder for our 18 foot dinghy and the core was cedar. 
The whole thing was epoxied once I had the camber and chord  as I wanted 
it. That was a very interesting job as the rudder was tapered from top 
to bottom , from fore to aft and had a max depth of 1 1/8 " 40% of the 
depth from the front, tapered as the rudder was designed. Once I had 
finished the shaping, the whole thing was epoxy encased and the holes 
drilled for the cheek plates. I don't see why you could not pull your 
rudder together in place with clamps and gorilla glue, and then epoxy 
some gussets over the join to hold it so you can take off the clamps and 
feel comfortable that the join will not open up again, then encapsulate 
the whole thing. That should only take a day or day and a half to do and 
a couple of days to cure well enough to get you on your way. You could 
even add the barrier coat as it is fairly fast drying too.
    You really do not want to be stymied for lack of steerage, 
particularly in the upper St Lawrence or locks. Having any splint on the 
outside will be prone to being hit, slowing the boat and always runs the 
risk of being torn off, or if through bolted, weakening the wood more 
than you would like. Usually the best and cheapest fix is the correct 
fix the first time.
    Where is your boat? If you need help, that can be arranged if it is 
close enough.
    I do hope you have seen her and are not relying only on just a 
survey, as there are usually several other things that need to be done 
before you go anywhere near the ocean with an Alberg 30. The short list 
is to resize the bolts on the 7 chainplates to at least 5/16" and that 
means fixing the knees too if they are waterlogged. Replace all rivets 
on the boom with 1/4" machine bolts tapped into the endcaps. Check for 
weak decks and cockpit floor. Masonite in the early boats was much 
better than balsa in the later hulls for staying dry. Stuffing box 
packing is probably dried out. Gate valves are not safe for fresh water, 
never mind the ocean, on all through hull fittings. Hull to deck joints 
can be a problem in older hulls. Check the lamination of the covering 
layer on the ballast in the forward cabin and redo that joint for the 
length of the keel, both sides. It was  not ever well done in production 
and has given way on most hulls. That means taking out most of the 
interior- easier on non-liner older boats. This bad joint  allows too 
much flex of the hull to begin with, and allows salt water to get to the 
iron ballast and rust it, which expands the iron and pops the hull to 
hull joint. Mast beam is another point, if it is oak. Rigging will also 
be original for my bet and the threads on the turnbuckles will not take 
a blow if you get the normal between Labrador and the island. Cracked 
tiller head is another common fault. It will be worn for sure so the 
tiller will be loose.  I am also very leery of the quality of sails you 
will have,  as most Alberg sailors have had a propensity to use sails 
well after they become rags. This tends to promote heeling before 
forward motion and really does drag performance out to the lowest limit 
possible. Instruments, Well they all need to be replaced unless there 
have been recent updates.
    I have a son who does ocean deliveries and he has sailed from St. 
Maarten to Halifax with a boat, - sight unseen by the owner- but a 
survey saying there were good sails aboard. They had recommission that 
hull for 3 weeks after the date they had wanted to leave, to re-stitch 
the rags before they left, blew one set out with weak cloth within 2 
days and limped into Bermuda  to resew things again. The owner still did 
not believe that the sails were done when they arrived in Halifax. I 
will not mention his name but he could afford better because he sold a 
brewery.
    As for trucking, I thought there were a fair number of boat builders 
in the  mainland maritime provinces and that they have a boat builders 
co-op at least for selling. You need to hook up there for a back haul if 
you want to get her part way home at least by road.
    I find all the trucking costs suggested to be out of line, unless 
you had that delivery right to St. John's. I know it is 24 hours from 
the ferry to the east coast with a rig, and from Toronto to Picteau is 
less than that. I took my trailer from here to NY NY and back for $1500, 
three years ago and that was one day down and another back with a 
tractor and driver, about a 26 hour drive with border and all. It does 
depend a bit on how they treat log books though and what happens in 
Quebec. They are a law unto themselves when it comes to trucking through 
that province. For the local stuff, they are taking advantage of you not 
being there. However, you may not be getting the local person to do the 
move. I know at Port Dover there are 5 truckers who move boats, so price 
is very negotiable. I also know they like the owner to say if things are 
good to go too.
    Any help I can be, don't hesitate to ask. If you are up on the 
Avalon Penn. I have one of my trucks up there trucking crab from wharf 
to the plant, at least that was what I sold her for about 10 years ago 
now. I can look that chap up, I'm sure. I don't know if he has tractors 
as the one I sold him was a tandem Mack.
    There was one chap in Hamilton who bought a fixer in Annapolis. Both 
Mike Lehman and I tried to talk him into trucking the boat home as the 
safest ordeal possible and it took him about 18 months to do that and 
thank goodness he did. He is alive still to talk about it and has the 
boat at home to work on now. Finding an opportune ride is often the best 
and cheapest way of going, even if it is shipped deck cargo on a 
freighter from Toronto, Hamilton  or Port Weller.
Don
Hugh McCormack wrote:


 1166245241.0