[C320-list] Rust stains on rudder

[Jon Vez]

Gene,

A couple of possibilities. First, make sure the water didn't 'travel' from
somewhere else. In other words find where the rust stained water originated.
The two most likely places are from the strut and from the scuppers. Water
will follow the hull shape and find the rudder via gravity.

The other, more problematic possibility is that water has entered the
rudder. The rudder has a 'web' of mild steel welded to the rudder post and
the rudder itself is filled with foam. If water enters and gets trapped it
will rust the web. If this fails, you will have a rudder that spins on the
post, or worse falls off--the latter two could take years to happen--but
definitely needs to be looked at.

The typical approach to determining if you have a water logged rudder is to
drill several small holes near the bottom of the rudder and see if you get
water draining out. If you do, you can drill small holes on either side of
the rudder and try to dry it out--once dry you refill with epoxy.
If you're not comfortable with any of this, you can have a surveyor take a
look. If you take a plastic mallet and when tapping hear a 'thud', there is
a good chance you have a water logged rudder. This happened to me on a
C30--another option to all of the 'fixes' if this turns out to be the case
is to buy a new one from Catalina...Hope this helps and good luck...


Regards,
Jon Vez
Solstice #582

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Gene Musante
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 5:15 AM
To: Catalina Int'l Catalina Mail List
Subject: [C320-list] Rust stains on rudder


Hi,

 

I did a visual inspection of my boat today, and notice two rust stains which
are seeping through the bottom paint on the rudder.  One is on the lower
port side of the rudder about 12 inches from the bottom.  The other is high
on the starboard side about 12 inches from the top of the rudder.  Both are
along the centerline of the rudder and are spiderweb-like stains.

 

Has anyone else experienced this?  Can anyone explain what might be causing
it, and what course of action is appropriate?

 

Thanks!

Gene Musante

gmusante at msn.com

AFFINITY

Hull #68






_________________________________________________________________
HotmailR is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast. 
http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_70faster_032009=