rudder post packing maybe?
Berry, I have a "classic" 38 so my rudder post may be very different than yours. However, your request for ideas suggests several possible responses based on my own experience. The "usual" leakage or weeping from and around a rudder posts comes from old, stale, or worn packing in the rudder post packing gland. If you have not checked this out, then that would be my first step. You probably can change packing without hauling your boat. If you need further information, feel free to e-mail me at setsail@ix.netcom.com. The second source could be the fixed tube through which the rudder post is set. This fitting is typically glassed into the hull when the boat is manufactured - but the fitting can get distorted or broken if you have jammed the rudder by running aground or hitting an underwater object. Hauling the boat and having a yard reglass it is probably the only way to correct this rare problem. I have also heard of a rudder post being bent so that the cause of the distortion problem is the rudder post, not the fitting - again, this needs to be reviewed by a yard. I have never personally heard of a leak in the actual rudder post - most are solid. Yours may be hollow - but, even then, the top of the rudder post is typically well above the water line and hydrodynamics dictates that water would not travel up through the rudder post tube (that is higher than the water line) and out the top. Hope this helps, Tom
