Some of you may remember that under a previous post I wrote about replacing my rudder because there was rusty water coming out of some cracks that were exposed when it was peeled along with the bottom of the boat. My decision at that time was based on the idea that perhaps the iron perpendiculars were rusting and eventually going to break free from the stainless steel rudder post. The only way to know for sure was to do an autopsy of the rudder which would have resulted in a complete rebuild. Therefor thinking it would be better safe than be sorry I purchased and installed a new rudder. Well I finally got around to doing the autopsy of the old rudder. Here is what I found. First the good news... The perpendiculars were securely attached to the rudder post. They were rusted but the attachments would have lasted for many more seasons. Now the not so good news: It looks like a PO had rebuilt the rudder once before. The iron pieces were encased in marine tex and then fiberglassed and epoxied in place. Now the new question is was this done because they were breaking free or was the rudder rebuilt for some other reason? The original rudder is 26 years old. It was partially water logged and showed signs of many repairs. Could I have gotten by with a few more coats of epoxy and paint? A definite maybe! Here are a couple of pictures. A surgeon I am not.
