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I have a '89 Wave 26, which looks like a Mark V and I have water in my rudder and a small case of separation ( 1-2") on the trailing edge. The rudder was repaired about three years ago and supposedly sealed, but it still absorbs water. After the haul this season, I noticed water dripping at the bottom of the rudder. Upon closer inspection, I found a series of holes drilled on the bottom and can only assume these are weep holes. Question; should I repair the seperation and live with mositure elsewhere, allowing it to drain in the fall thru the weep holes, or should I try to dry the rudder, make repairs, seal the holes and barrier coat the whole thing. Is this a common occurrence?
Death, taxes, water in your rudder. Get used to them. Some of the repair shops around here used to 'seal' rudders, but now they won't guarantee to keep the water out.
Here, we all drill a hole in the bottom of the rudder at haulout to let the water out through fall. For myself, I patch the same hole every year with 5-min epoxy, but some people put in a screw with a bit of bedding compound or 5200. Presumably a past owner failed to do this with your rudder and it froze then split.
If it were not for the split, I'd just fill the holes and resolve to open one of them in the fall. The split may or may not be an issue. If you clamp the split closed and tap the rudder, does it sound hollow? How big an area sounds hollow? If the hollow area is not too big, consider fixing the split and pouring enough West epoxy into the top of the rudder to fill the void. This may be all that is needed to fix the problem.
If you are not comfortable using your own judgement in the matter, dismount the rudder and take it to a reputable repair facility.
David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV
David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV
Offline
One source of entry often over-looked is the bolt hole where the rudder attaches. You may consider treating it like a cored hull. Fix by overdrilling, epoxy fill, then redrill proper size hole. Check out the thread on inboard genoa tracks.
Warren Smith
Serendipity
Galveston Bay, Texas
well, water in a rudder may be common place for a rudder hung on a post under the boat (Like a MKIII) it is sort of strange for a MKV, which has a stern hung rudder and no post to let the water in. You need to get it dry - by draining it, preferably inside. Then seal any suspected entry points - like the delamination, the holes in the bottom, and the bolt holes where the pintal brackets attach. Rudders work better without the weight of the water in them.
jim
Distant Thunder MKV hull #69
To dry it, make a tent of plastic over it with a dehumidifier inside the tent - will speed the process. For a cheap but effective dehumidifier, get a "Wind Chaser" brand from Amazon.com for about $60, works pretty well in moderate to high humidity (like here in the tropics!)
Warren Smith (AKA Tropical Warren)
Serendipity
Galveston Bay, Texas
UPDATE:
Thanks for all the advice! So far, here's what I've done; I opened the delamination up to drain(just a bit), drilled holes in the side of the rudder in several places, elevated the rudder on saw horses, (trailing edge down) built a "tent" out of an electric blanket, and under it, placed a space heater. This arrangement dried the rudder out after several days. I'm in the process of stripping the ablative paint now, and will repair the crack and holes with epoxy. Afterwards, I'm going to barrier coat the whole thing.
I can understand how a rudder on a post under a boat can absorb water, but mine is hung on the transom like a dingy. There shouldn't be any water absorption because there aren't penetrations below the water line. Well, you would think that anyway.
Thanks again to everyone, great site, good information.
Rick
My preventive maintenance project this winter is the rudder. When I took Weather or Not out this winter I drilled a hole low in the rudder and got a litre out. I hate to think how freezing would be...
I am drying out my rudder indoors this winter and stripping the antifouling off with peal away down to the gel coat and getting about 10 coats off. I also tried Sikaflex last year on the C&C smile and it worked beautifully. So I will try a dremel on the rudder around the the Mark II shaft entry's to the rudder and apply about a 1/8"++ bead of Sikaflex. I plan to coat the rudder with Interprotect. Next year a drain hole will tell the results.
One point about Sikaflex, a primer is needed as CSM A/F did not stick through last summer.
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