Water in rudder tube

[Daydreams]

My 299 has standing water in the rudder tube. There is no tiller or head on it yet, as I,m rebuilding the boat from scratch, so the water could have come from rain or from a leak in the rudder. Is this going to cause problems or is water in the rudder acceptable. Also,,does anyone know what goes between the fiberglass seat and the bronze tiller head to keep the head from grinding into the area around the rudder stock tube?

 

[RayK]

Washer

CastawayI have an S25 and I think rudder tube is same concept. Mine had a nylon "washer" floating between the seat and tiller head. I AwlGrip'd my deck and cockpit a couple of years ago so I epoxied the "washer" to the seat area. Works fine.

 

[Mark Taylor]

Water in the rudder

Water in the rudder is not a desirable thing, you can live with it in the summer but can cause big time damage in the winter from freezing and thawing episodes. I usually pull the rudder from my 299 in the fall when I haul the boat and store it in the garage upside down to drain it over the winter, it may have up to a quart of water which usually leaks in from around the fiberglass / stainless steel interface. I put 1/4 inch piece of delrin with a 2 inch hole in it as a bearing between the rudder head and the fiberglass deck. Has worked fine since 1995. MarkKaizen