Rudder on Vision 32

[Tom]

1989 Vision 32After liftout last year it seems the rudder had water in it and it froze. You can see a bulge where the skin has let go or delaminated. I suspect the water is getting in from the post. How difficult is it to remove the rudder to check the seal around the post? The other option might be to open the skin and see what damage is in the core. Any ideas or experiences? Got just over 60 days till lift in. TomLake Simcoe, Ontario Canada

 

[Barry]

Common Problem

Happens all the time in cold weather. The likely source is where the post enters the rudder but water could get in any other place the fiberglass gelcoat is damaged. First you need to get the rudder off the boat. There are usually two options for that, lift the boat or dig a hole under it to get the rudder out. Warm it up inside, drill lots of holes and you'll get some of the water out. Then do fiberglass repairs.Another option is to contact Foss Foam in Florida and have a new rudder made. If there is any evidence that your rudder contacted another object, (a small chip or crack) your insurance company may pay for this repair. The price for fixing the old rudder correctly is frequently close to the cost of replacement.Several folks I know remove their rudder every winter and store it inside. This is more difficult on some boats than other but I doubt you'll ever get all the water out. Other folks drill the bottom of the rudder each fall and fill with epoxy each spring to avoid problems like you have.Barry

 

[Mike Webster]

Temporary (?) Repair

I noticed a bulge in my rudder several years ago when I moved the boat here from up north. I did some temporary repairs at that time, and just had the boat on the hard again last fall for bottom paint. The bulge was back and had gotten worse.My issue was time, as it is very expensive to leave the boat out of the water on Lake Lanier ($18 a day after two weeks). I drilled the rudder full of holes, let it leak out for a few days, and then put heat lamps on it for a week. I then squirted some West System epoxy into the holes and let it set up. Finally, I faired the outside of the rudder with more West System. I almost forgot, I also had to sand down about half of the leading edge, as it prove to be leaking there as well. When I sanded it, it was so thin as to almost desolve under the sand paper. After drying, i also filled that in and refaired with West system epoxy.Will it last? Probably not, but I can keep track of it by diving on it every so often during the summer. If it continues to worsen, I may think about replacing it in a few years.If I was on the coast, I would be more concerned about the integrity of the rudder system, but Lake Lanier is mainly light wind conditions with no to small waves. I'll live with it for awhile yet.