[Public-List] Rudder covering

[Gordon Laco]

Hello Bill - 

I used to try to keep my Folkboat's wooden rudder faired with epoxy... It
always came off.  The expansion and contraction of the wood will break any
glue or coating.  You'll have a longer lasting fairing job if you lay cloth
in the epoxy - that will strengthen the coating - but it will still come
off.  Worse, because it'll stay on longer, you'll make a green house for rot
because water will eventually get behind it.

In my opinion, the best way to deal with a wooden rudder is to sand it fair
as best you can, then just paint it with antifouling.  A good way to prepare
it for painting is to soak it in very thin varnish (thinned 50/50 or more
with varsol)  The varnish will be thin as water and will really soak into
the wood.  If you do this treatment, laying the varnish in until the wood
won't take any more, you'll have created a very good surface preparation for
your bottom paint and will have sealed the wood with a healthy and flexible
material.  (you folks with wooden dinghies and canoes...this is how the pros
treat bilges)

Yes, the rudder will look a bit like a barn door next spring after it's
dried and contracted, but it'll be healthy and strong...and that's the way a
wooden rudder is supposed to look.  It's a badge of honour, I'd say.

I am going to be in Toronto tomorrow afternoon - I'm participating in the
Battle of the Atlantic ceremony with the RCN at Old City Hall Cenotaph, then
will be loafing on the waterfront a bit before heading home;  will you be at
your boat?  Where is she? It would be fun to drop over.

Gord #426 Surprise


On 03/05/14 11:34 AM, "Bill Newman" <newman423 at rogers.com> wrote:

> The rudder on #233 appears to be wood, maybe magohany with probably a
> fibreglass resin covering with no cloth.  Each spring there are small pieces
> of the resin breaking loose which I fill with expoxy putty and sand smooth.  I
> suspect that the problem is that during the sailing season water is getting
> inside the covering and during winter storage in the Toronto area, it freezes
> and expands, cracking the coating.
> 
> My question is has anyone else treated this problem and found a reasonably
> permanent cure without it becoming a massively difficult or expensive project.
> Any wood I have seen seems to be quite sound.  It think that the present
> covering should be removed and recovered with either fibreglass resin or
> expoxy.  Any suggestions or comments will be welcome.
> 
> Bill Newman
> Marion Rose #233
> newman423 at rogers.com
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