I don’t speak from personal experience, but I read somewhere of drying the core using a vacuum pump (at least, theoretically, water should evaporate at much lower temperature if the pressure drops). After all the moisture gets out, you can fill the voids (or saturate the core) with very thin epoxy.
It makes sense, I think. Marek Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 From: Matthew L. Wolford via CnC-List<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2017 20:41 To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Matthew L. Wolford<mailto:wolf...@erie.net> Subject: Re: Stus-List C&C 35-3 Rudder Drain Holes Neil: I think I may have commented on this before, but just in case: when I bought my boat, we noted that the moisture meter readings for the rudder were elevated (along with much of the core). Rather than do a total re-build, my repair guy -- who knows as much about West System as the Gougeon brothers and was a close friend of theirs before they died -- repaired my rudder the same way he had done with some other C&Cs. First, he draws a grid on one side of the rudder with parallel lines about one inch apart and intersecting parallel lines about one inch apart. He then drills holes (about 3/8” or so) on the intersecting points. Then he places the rudder into a “casket,” which is a contraption that he made for drying out rudders. It’s basically a plywood box to which he attaches a heater. He heats the interior space of the box to about 200 degrees F for several weeks, and any water inside the rudder finds it way out through the holes. After the rudder is sufficiently baked, he then fills the holes with West System (I’m sure he uses a mixture of some sort, either colloidal silica or the cotton “wetting” additive). When the holes are filled, the surface is smoothed out, and several coats of Interprotect are applied on the entire rudder. He also checks the area where the rudder post enters the rudder to make sure it’s not easy for water to get in. On my boat, this part of the rudder is normally out of the water, so this is not a huge issue. He did this repair five or more years ago, and as far as I know the rudder is solid and dry. Matt From: schiller via CnC-List<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2017 5:06 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: schiller<mailto:schil...@bloomingdalecom.net> Subject: Re: Stus-List C&C 35-3 Rudder Drain Holes Here in the great white north the concern is the water freezing and splitting the rudder. The surveyor concurred with that reasoning. Good old fresh water has it advantages but cold weather has its own items to be concerned with. We haul, winterize and cover but we don't have to worry about Hurricanes and electrolysis (at least as much as salt water). My shaft zincs are pretty much only a shaft stop. Thanks for all of the input on drain holes. I think I have my game plan. Neil Schiller 1983 C&C 35, Mark III, #028 "Grace" White Lake, Michigan On 10/8/2017 10:48 AM, Josh Muckley via CnC-List wrote: When we bought ours the surveyor gave cautionary guidance that water in the rudder was bad since it could cause the metal web inside to rust. Eventually this could result in the rudder twisting freely on the post or even falling off. His guidance was that the only good way to fix the problem was to have the rudder rebuilt. He told stories of some people drilling drain holes but wasn't convinced that all the water ever made it out. Imagine trying to dry your laundry by just draining the tank and opening the lid of the washing machine. We were sufficiently scared by the possible consequences and had the rudder rebuilt the following winter. In conclusion the steel web and welds were perfect and draining may have been sufficient - but for how long is anyone's guess. Some people have a hard time sleeping on the hook. Instead I have nightmares about killing people when the rudder, mast, or keel fail. Here are the pictures that the fiberglass guy took during the rebuild. They should help you when determining the internal structure of your rudder and where to drill holes. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8pEh5lnvP1yVUdWUDNxVGFUcDA Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Oct 7, 2017 2:56 PM, "schiller via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com>> wrote: One of the items in our new C&C 35, Mark III was that there was moisture in the rudder and the surveyor suggested drilling drainage holes. Anyone want to suggest the location to drill? We hauled out last night and I am going up to the boat to disconnect batteries on Wednesday. I assume that the drainage holes will be in the lower quadrant of the rudder. Should they be in the side or in the bottom surface (or does it really matter. I never had to do this on my Redwing 35 so this is new to us. Neil Schiller 1983 C&C 35, Mark III, #028 "Grace" White Lake, Michigan _______________________________________________ The bills have started coming in for the year 2018 and have gone up again. October will be our fund raising month. Please consider sending a small contribution to help keep this list running. Use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ The bills have started coming in for the year 2018 and have gone up again. October will be our fund raising month. Please consider sending a small contribution to help keep this list running. Use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All contributions are greatly appreciated! ________________________________ _______________________________________________ The bills have started coming in for the year 2018 and have gone up again. October will be our fund raising month. Please consider sending a small contribution to help keep this list running. Use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All contributions are greatly appreciated!
_______________________________________________ The bills have started coming in for the year 2018 and have gone up again. October will be our fund raising month. Please consider sending a small contribution to help keep this list running. Use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All contributions are greatly appreciated!
