So while I’m sure it gets boring reading another ‘we’re still in the getting ready stages’ blog post, I personally find the drudgery of work infinitely more appealing than the chaos of trying to save a boat in distress. Which is all a super long winded way of saying, “One step forward and a whole huge, freaking leap back…”
One rudder stock is bent. Which means our steering is off, and the forces on our rudder are far higher than they should be. Evan tried to convince me (and him) that the obvious bend we were seeing was just refraction. An optical illusion which oddly enough only affected one rudder… And that maybe, just maybe the rudder stock wasn’t damaged
But then he pulled the rudder and we got a different answer…
Happily we have a stainless guy we’ve worked with who can fit us in. Also happily we have a good friend with a car who transported Ev and the rudder to the shop. So now we wait for the repair (and the bill…). And while we wait we’re working on those steps forward.
4 comments:
I know it must have felt like a knot in your stomach to find something like this, but wow, you really are in the perfect place! You'll get great work and it will be reasonable... wouldn't want to be taking this repair on in Tahiti!
How lucky you are to figure this out here on the mainand my dear. The sea sprites are smiling on you.
ouch! I can only imagine the force it took to bend that stock. I'm just building my rudders now and if it's the same stuff I have for my woods boat...schedule 160 stainless steel pipe, it's sooo heavy and thick. I'd be happy it didn't do damage to the place the lower bearings are attached to the boat. That could've been a lot more ugly. Good luck with the repair!
Jeff,
This was one of Richard's earlier design. The rudder tube is only 4 or 5mm thick on the plans. I suspect it's a bit on the light side (but it had survived 25 years of sailing beforehand without trouble).
Thankfully a 1 day repair job that somebodey else is doing, and a 20 minutes to re-install makes it easier to take!
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