I have a 1/8" drain hole drilled straight up into the rudder at the very bottom. I leave it open. There are no cracks anywhere on my rudder.
When my boat is out of the water on it's cradle and it rains water get into the rudder and drips out the drain hole at the bottom. The rain must get in through the top where the rudder shaft enters the rudder. I have heard it is next to impossible to stop that joint from leaking water so I haven't tried. I have no rust dripping out the bottom so that is a good sign (I hope). Ken H. On 16 October 2013 08:09, Steve Thomas <sthom...@sympatico.ca> wrote: > > > Lots of us have rudders that are less than perfectly water tight. Many > people either drill a hole in the bottom so it can drain, > and patch it every spring, or install a permanent drain plug. The main > worry is to not let the water freeze in there. > > There is a C&C 38 at a marina here that was discovered upon haul out to > have dropped one half of the rudder skin in the water. The > exact time or place that this occurred is unknown, and the boat has sat > for over a year now while the owner contemplates his next > move. Water freezing over the winter is suspected to have played a role, > but the particular nature of the damage is due to the > fact that the rudder construction included two half skins that were glued > together. The rudder on my 27 seems to be constructed in > the same fashion, and water drips out of a crack in the seam every fall. > The water eventually stops dripping, so I figure that it > is self draining, but I have often wondered if it wouldn't be better to > "skin" the rudder seam with fibreglass matt and try to > fair it smooth afterward. Seeing that 38 sitting there with half a rudder > has made me think more seriously about preventative > measures but I have not done anything about it so far. > > Steve Thomas > C&C27 MKIII > Port Stanley, ON > > -----Original Message----- > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of David > Donnelly > Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 9:46 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Stus-List Rudder Damage and possible blister > > > Upon haul out a week ago I noticed a prior repair that was made to the > rudder but has now given way. I don't know how I missed it on purchase > but there was brand new bottom paint which must have concealed it > enough. In any case it is now mine to deal with. It seemed to weep water > for a few days and had the copper (or what looks like it) from the VC17 > coming out. Most likely this is rust though.I have a link to the photos. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/97287685@N03/10300503673/ > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/97287685@N03/10300359555/ > > Using Google I found a few hits with some similar repairs and horror > stories. I am ASSuming that it is fiberglass over foam. The foam is > probably soaked and I was considering drilling some small holes near the > bottom to see what drains out. I guess the real concern is not fixing > the area it is what damage may have occurred from water being in there > and corroding the post. > > In addition I found 2 other small areas that look like they were > repaired on the hull but now the repair looks to have degraded. I don't > have enough experience to know what a blister looks like but there is a > picture of this too. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/97287685@N03/10300484023/ > > I have hammered all around the areas of both the rudder and the hull and > everything seems sound. I think the rudder is toast. What may be my > options for this. And of course the blister. > > Regards, > > David Donnelly > C&C 26 Mistress > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com >
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