This post might be redundant but is to answer a question and not complicate the "40.5 Rudder Stock" post. The question was "Ed, what happened to your rudder?".
During the first nine years of ownership I was always draining the rudder during the off season. And then I would glass sections that were delaminating. Couple that with years of postings here showing rudder failures. So some rudder work seemed to be due.
Then on the journey south from Lake Erie we experienced several groundings(always in the marked channel
). One was particularly bad where a fisherman had trouble towing us off. A crewmate remembers that we were finally towed off backward! Still no noticeable problems.
A third factor was a persistent drip around the rudder stuffing box. I had restuffed and adjusted the box at the end of the Erie Canal. So I knew it was the rudder tube and not the stuffing box. It made sense then to have the rudder pulled since I was so close to a real boatyard.
Sure enough when we pulled it the rudder stock was bent. And the first picture shows the source of the drip. The real education was seeing the inside of the rudder, cheap foam and huge voids. The stainless was like new, no sign of corrosion. It was rebuilt with a quality foam, no voids, and a completely new skin. The stock was straightened and the existing frame of the rudder was used.
Cost? State Farm covered it. They said if it was straight when we left Lake Erie then it needed to be fixed. And no rate increase in 2009 and 2010!
During the first nine years of ownership I was always draining the rudder during the off season. And then I would glass sections that were delaminating. Couple that with years of postings here showing rudder failures. So some rudder work seemed to be due.
Then on the journey south from Lake Erie we experienced several groundings(always in the marked channel
). One was particularly bad where a fisherman had trouble towing us off. A crewmate remembers that we were finally towed off backward! Still no noticeable problems.A third factor was a persistent drip around the rudder stuffing box. I had restuffed and adjusted the box at the end of the Erie Canal. So I knew it was the rudder tube and not the stuffing box. It made sense then to have the rudder pulled since I was so close to a real boatyard.
Sure enough when we pulled it the rudder stock was bent. And the first picture shows the source of the drip. The real education was seeing the inside of the rudder, cheap foam and huge voids. The stainless was like new, no sign of corrosion. It was rebuilt with a quality foam, no voids, and a completely new skin. The stock was straightened and the existing frame of the rudder was used.
Cost? State Farm covered it. They said if it was straight when we left Lake Erie then it needed to be fixed. And no rate increase in 2009 and 2010!
