Saturated rudder

[Aarrrgh!]

It seems that exposing the inner structure to reveal critical corrosion, then re-attaching is beyond my comfort zone and this old brain's capacity.

Again, before I go into uncharted waters (at least for me), I will drain the brain of the guy who originally restored it 5 or so years ago. As a matter of fact, I think I'll take the rudder to the shop right now. I'll be back in an hour, or so.

Regardless, I appreciate all of these comments... keep 'em coming!

 

[Aarrrgh!]

After letting it drain, rather than applying air pressure, it would better to apply a vaccum - seal up any extra holes (can use butyl to temproarily seal them) and pull from one or more holes. If you can put the rudder under 30 Hg of vacuum, any water will "boil" at 70 degress F and be removed as vapor. But as Don said, this doesn't do anything to fix any rot or corrosion - you might want to cut an inspection port in the rudder to actually see what's going on.

I have a shop full of tools, but a vacuum pump is not one of them, but I'll check with my friends who might have one. Thanks for the insight!

 

[shemandr]

I remember seeing a post or even a thread regarding opening the rudder with a skill saw. You would probably ruin the skin unless it is de-laminated. But you would at least be able to assess the situation. In the case of the bubbled area there isn't that much to lose. Once you know what you're dealing with you could make a plan to move forward. Replace or repair.
As far as technique I would search for that thread. But, if I were to do it. I would design a window cut out that would allow me access to the supposed steel framework and would incorporate the worst bubbling areas. The steel framework would be in the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the rudder. I would also keep in mind your or anyone's ability to really tell the corrosion situation of the steel. But at least you would get a very good look at it.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I remember seeing a post or even a thread regarding opening the rudder with a skill saw. You would probably ruin the skin unless it is de-laminated. But you would at least be able to assess the situation. In the case of the bubbled area there isn't that much to lose. Once you know what you're dealing with you could make a plan to move forward. Replace or repair.
As far as technique I would search for that thread. But, if I were to do it. I would design a window cut out that would allow me access to the supposed steel framework and would incorporate the worst bubbling areas. The steel framework would be in the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the rudder. I would also keep in mind your or anyone's ability to really tell the corrosion situation of the steel. But at least you would get a very good look at it.

You might be thinking of this thread - Rudder Repair - Wet Core, Split and its reference to the Boatworks Today series on rudder rebuilding.