Rudder Post Leaking

[Don Magdall]

I have a 1975 Catalina 30 which has been converted to wheel steering. The rudder post and tiller fitting are still there so that an emergency tiller can be used to steer as well. I have noticed that when it rains, there is quite a steady drip of water coming into the boat from around the rudder post. Does anyone have an idea how to repair this or even where to get a drawing showing rudder assembly? How difficult is it to remove the rudder when the boat is on land? Any thoughts would be appreciated.Don

 

[SEAN]

RAIN,RAIN

When it rains, there is water everywhere. If there's no water when it's not raining, don't worry. You don't have a problem. You definitely don't want to deal with dropping the rudder if you don't have to. You don't.

 

[John M.]

Rain thru rudder post

I did the same conversion to wheel steering from tiller on my 1973 C-27. If the rudder shaft is otherwise sound and stablke, don't drop the rudder. Any plumbing or hardware supply should hve a PVC end cap for a 6" to 8" diameter pipe that you can set over the post and old tiller bracket to prevent water entering.

 

[Randy Sherwood]

Don:I do not know how handy you are , but I took and droped my rudder a last spring to re-epoxy the post hole. The rudder had aquired some slop from over the years and it was actually pretty easy.This also took care of a lot of the water that came in by the gap. You have to loosen the quadrent and take out the thru bolt on it. It takes 2 people to do this as when the quadrant is loosened and the bolt is out the only thing that holds it in is the cap up in the cockpit. Have someone below on the ground pickup on the rudder while you pull the cap bolt out and then down it comes. The thing you need to remember is that you need about 2 extra feet of space below from the bottom of the keel.

 

[Rod]

Rear bearth leaks (how to fix)

I had the same exact thing happening to my 1977 converted to wheel steering boat. I found that the water drips down the post and fills up the aluminum Edson casting that the cables turn. When this casting is full it drips onto the top of the access board and then onto the rear bearth area and eventually down into the fuel tank area. I corrected this by drilling a hole in the casting as close to the rudder post as possible so the water could continue it's path down the rudder post and drain into the bilge instead of the cabin. If you put your fingers on top of this casting and feel around you will see that there is an area for water to pool (it is shaped kind of like a cereal bowl). This pool area extends over the edge of the cover board hence the drip. The other thing I did was built a fiberglass speed bump right before the tiller head. I did this so when the rain filled up the drip canal around the rear seat in the cockpit it diverted the water onto the cockpit floor. There was one other problem with my boat. After a rain storm water seeped out of the hole for the wheel steering (meaning my cockpit core was getting wet). I discovered that my cockpit scupper holes were leaking. I cured this with a two part product made by Sea Fit (got it at West Marine) it is designed to go anywhere water will to find small leaks and seal them. You mix it and pour it in the problem area and wa-la. My cabin is now bone dry. Good luck!

 

[Don Magdall]

Rudder Post Leaking - Randy Sherwood

Randy,When you took out your rudder, was there any type of seal at the top of the rudder post that was supposed to prevent water from leaking down from the cockpit or is it just a bushing with no sealing.Don