Rudder Removal
Colin: I took the rudder off of Counterpoint, our 1989 33.5, a couple of years ago. The boat had to be lifted out of the cradle. The rudder is very heavy as there is a substantial stainless steel post and framework inside. My guess would place the weight at around 150 pounds but it will seem like much more because it is so awkward to handle. You will need one(really strong) or two normal guys to assist you. Working under the boat they will need to support the rudder while you release the bolt and ease the stearing quadrant from the top of the rudder post. Then they will lower the rudder to the ground. The boat will need to be lifted around 4 feet (as I recall) to provide clearance for the rudder post to come STRAIGHT down through the bottom of the boat. If I remember correctly, there are synthetic bushings that will follow the shaft out of the boat as well. You probably will at least want to clean those, perhaps replace them if you can find new. (Try Hunter parts department.) After drilling several holes completely through the rudder and waiting several weeks for it to thoroughly dry. I sanded away the flanges left from the mold construction process, taped and epoxied all of the edges to repair the delamination, filled the holes, and applied several coats of epoxy barrier coat followed by the bottom paint. Yesterday, I pulled the boat for the first time since the repair and was very pleased with the result. I found that to work on the rudder effectively I needed to suspend it. I used a block and tackle hung from my garage rafters to raise and lower the rudder onto a flat surface so that I could sand it and fill concave surfaces. Once it is lying on its side, one person can turn or roll it over. The rudder on a 33.5 is much larger and heavier than the older H33. De-installation and re-installation are not trivial. Make sure you have good help and minimize the time spent under the boat while hoisted on the lift. I'll bet these 33.5s drop like a rock. If you don't have a few hours to spend on this, you may want to make arrangements with Foss Foam or someone local to do it for you. My fear with sending it to Foss is that they created the origional version which was coming apart after "only" 10 years in the water. Good Luck with this project. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to e-mail: CaptainRonB@earthlink.net. Ron s/v Counterpoint
