[Public-List] Rudder needs some love...

[gregr at nethere.com]

Good Morning Folks,

I hauled out yesterday for bottom paint and through hull replacements.
My rudder is in rough shape. It's wood (Hull 43) and the cross supports are
pretty much gone. The whole thing has a dull sound when I rap on it with
the butt of my pocket knife. The shaft is one of the short ones that ends
at the bottom of the prop cutout.

I may make repairs to get me by for a couple of months while I pursue the
final fix. (I know absolutely nothing about using wood below the water
line.)

1. What glue should I use? The original cross supports look to be about 1
1/4" thick so I'll likely need to laminate some stock to make new ones.
I have epoxy from AeroMarine and TiteBond III in my kit but will buy
whatever. What glue should I use between the new supports and the rudder?

2. What is recommended for fairing the rudder before bottom paint?

3. Is there a sealing product or primer that I should use before the bottom
paint? I have a penetrating epoxy. Any value to use it?

4. I'll be using silicon bronze bolts and washers. Are split lock washers a
good choice here? Some kind of thread locker?

The wood guys in the yard have quoted $3K for a new wood rudder. I'm
figuring it would end up being $4k-$5k soup to nuts. I need to check but I
think they expect to reuse the main shaft.

The metal guy is going to quote a metal rudder today. I'm not sure how that
would work. He wasn't at the yard yesterday so this is hearsay but the guys
described a flat plate with stiffeners. I can't think of good metal to use.
The flat plate is going to result in drag. How significant I don't know.

I'm currently leaning towards making a fiberglass one with a shaft that runs
from the tiller head to the shoe.

Regards,

Greg