Before I first bought this boat, the first thing that I noticed was that the rudder skin had blisters that my sailing buddies said I would definitely need to have restored. I took it to a body shop that does extensive work on boats, including sailboats. It took them a few weeks of cautious heat and forced air to dry it out, then fortified the skin.
I, being a painter by trade, applied several coats of Interlux epoxy primer to top off the repair. when I hauled her out a few months ago, the blisters had returned, and the only apparent point of water entering the core was where the tube enters the top of the rudder. The primer had released from the stainless tube, and it was obvious to me that this was the initial point of failure.
Below, is what a semi-retired lifelong "Mr. Gadget", who finds his shop his "happy place" during the winter, with sailing KY Lake his "happy place during the summer:
The first thing I did after removing the rudder was to stand it on its tube, upside down, and water began to drain from that point, and run down the tube onto the floor. I then stood it upside down on a board, and secured it to a post where the rudder would face South. The hot sun would heat it up in the daytime creating pressure inside, and the water drained would increase. The cool night temperatures would create negative pressure, allowing for the heat of the sun to daily pressurize the interior, and continue the draining.
Unless you guys have better ideas, or cautions, I will now drill a hole in the rudder bottom surface, insert a compressed air fitting, and begin to apply gentle air pressure from a small "pancake" compressor which has an inline moisture separator, and a pressure regulator. I will adjust the pressure carefully, and begin to circulate dry air through the rudder and that air will exhaust from the tube into a catch pan on the floor. I will also carefully place a heat lamp that will aid the process of pushing wet air down through the tube. I will monitor the water level in the catch pan, which will be covered, reducing evaporation.
Before I begin all of that, I will weigh the rudder, and monitor how the weight decreases to the point where the weight does not change over a month's time.
In the meantime, I will revisit the body shop to find out what material was the core, and update you guys. Maybe when I drill that hole in the bottom of the rudder, I will be able to determine what is the core material. Do any of the photos of the dried white residue give a hint to the core material?
Any responses will be greatly appreciated.
