Gudgeon Mounting

[agg212]

Hi all,

I'm in the process on remounting two gudgeons on my rudder (one below the waterline, one above). I have cleaned up the area where the old gudgeon was, filled the old holes with thickened epoxy, and will drill new holes/mount the gudgeon in the same spot.

My question is the following: How should I prepare the surface (note that the area is below the waterline)? As you can see from the picture, some of the bare fiberglass is visible. Should I sand it down even further and apply gelcoat on top of the bare fiberglass? Or could I simply apply a thin layer of thickened epoxy to create a waterproof barrier?

Thanks!

 

[agprice22]

You will be fine applying epoxy. However, I think you should be sure to seal any cracks in the gelcote in the area too. I see some cracks. You do not want water getting to the core of your rudder. You could sand the whole rudder, apply a barrier coat of epoxy and then paint it. They would seal it and protect it above and below water.

 

[Gunni]

Yes to Andrew’s suggestion, epoxy primer. Interprotect 2000 is an excellent product to seal up the rudder. Pettit also makes a similar product. After that a single part enamel like Brightsides will make it shine and protect from UV. Skip the gelcoat stuff, not worth the bother.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Second the Interprotect. But a good coat of epoxy would work also

 

[Displacesailor]

If it stays in the water long than 1 day at a time a barrier seal is a must. Over the past 5 DECADES I have seen a lot of fiberglass damage caused by water and this is particularly bad at high stress points like this one. I would strip the whole rudder and barrier coat the whole thing.
I have seen epoxy that was not covered by a barrier coat fail under water because of a loss of adhesive properties when bonded to polyester resin.
I suggest 2 or 3 barrier coats then 2 coats of antifouling below the water and topside paint above the water line and skip the gel coat