My recently purchased 260's rudder seems to have some water inside - there is a sloshing noise from within. It doesn't sound like a lot of water, and the rudder still floats (yep, had my first sail this weekend – whoo hooo). However, it is of concern given what I have read on this site. The rudder is painted over so I can't see if there is any obvious damage – the old “freezing water expanding problem” is not an issue here in Australia. The yacht has been on its trailer for about 6 months but was kept on the water before that, so any ingress is not recent. My question is this – should I drill some drainage holes to remove the water then epoxy fill these later? If so, is there a sweet spot where I should drill? Or should I just replace in advance of any issue? The build year of the vessel is around 2000.
Water in Rudder - do I drill?
- Thread starter Anthony Pogson
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Weep holes
Yes you are correct by drilling the bottom ou should create a weep hole for the water to drain and then just epoxy closed.
Yes you are correct by drilling the bottom ou should create a weep hole for the water to drain and then just epoxy closed.
Swiss Cheese
I took your advice - only needed to drill one hole - about 6 inches deep, diagonally upwards from forward lower corner - about 1/2 cup of water came out and no more sloshing sound. Rudder now enjoying drying out in the winter sun before being refitted.
I took your advice - only needed to drill one hole - about 6 inches deep, diagonally upwards from forward lower corner - about 1/2 cup of water came out and no more sloshing sound. Rudder now enjoying drying out in the winter sun before being refitted.
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