We I bought my boat, the surveyor noted that the rudder had been rebuilt
by the seller, however, he noted that he found three (3) 'voids' in the
rudder. He outlined the void spaces with a marker on the sides of the
rudder....I confirmed that by tapping the rudder with a small hammer and
the sound(s) were obvious. I drilled holes, top and bottom of the
voids, 45 degree angled down for the top hole and 45 degree angle
upwards for the bottom hole. Small amount of water escaped. Let dry in
the sun for a few days.
Then plugged the bottom hole(s) and poured 'acetone' into the
voids......was told this would remove any evidence of water in the
voids....also let me know how much West System resin I would need to
fill the voids. Let dry and filled the voids by pouring resin down the
top hole(s).
12 seasons later, the rudder is still in place.....every 3 years at
haulout, I drill 2 holes in the bottom of the rudder to check for signs
of water......none yet.
Every season before launch, I put a little 4200 around the rudder post
where it enters the rudder to prevent water intrusion there.
Rob Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32 -84
Halifax, N.S.
On 2017-10-09 11:03 AM, Marek Dziedzic via CnC-List wrote:
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
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_______________________________________________
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!