Fountaine Pajot Athena 38 Rudder Bearing

[Dulcesuenos]

Our Athena 38 has some play in the stbd lower bearing. Maybe 1\4" or more. The port side is 1\16th" at most. We paid to have it fixed and its no different or the repair consisted of cramming another spacer into it which did nothing. Looking at it its a delron ball inside a large stainless socket and the ball has some play. Is this a concern or just let it go? I could inject some super bond epoxy around the ball but it may not last.
Any advice greatly appreciated

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[Dave852]

I would not epoxy it as will make future replacement difficult. Best to use Vesconite as it does not absorb water like Delrin. Very easy to make a new one if you know someone with a lathe.


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[colemj]

I believe these bearings are designed to self-align, so I wouldn't epoxy them. Why not replace it at the next haulout? It may be possible to replace without a haulout.

Mark

[kiltym]

Mark is correct, do not epoxy the "balls" into the socket. They are meant to rotate in the socket.

You can replace in the water (have done it), but obviously need to drop the rudder out of the boat. I recommend doing it in shallow water, as the rudder/post is fairly heavy.

Dropping the rudder is the easy part, getting it back in takes some real effort however (scuba tanks would make it easier).

[colemj]

Originally Posted by kiltym

Dropping the rudder is the easy part, getting it back in takes some real effort however (scuba tanks would make it easier).

Is it possible to weld an eye onto the top of the post so that you can get pull purchase from inside the boat?

Mark

[seaclone]

I have replaced the bearings on my Lapari they are available in the US the hard part was removing the ball with the rudder out the new one slipped in you rotate them no play now. My rudder posts had a area to attach a line when lowering the rudder.Iwas able to remove the rudder in the water but pulled the boat out to replace the bearing

[kiltym]

Funny you should mention that.

This is what we did:

At the top of our rudder posts (not sure its the same for all FP), there is a threaded hole, I think 10 or 12mm. I screwed in a bolt into that hole. I suppose it must have been put here for this reason, as there isn't another explanation I can think of for why there is a threaded hole at the top of the rudder post.

Inside the boat, directly above the rudder post, I drilled a hole through the bulkhead (you can access the back side of the bulkhead in this location), and attached a block with a bolt through the hole, the block had an integrated cam cleat which helped a lot. Then tied a rope through the block to the bolt I screwed into the rudder post allowing me to pull horizontally on the rope and vertically on the post. Then I could pull (fairly) easily on the rope via the block to help pull the post up with one person in the water guiding it through the lower bushing. The hard part is getting the post through the top bushing as it has to be aligned perfect, all while keeping upward tension on the rope to keep pulling the post up.

We actually did it 2x in one day, so as with everything onboard, the 2nd time is easier .

[Dulcesuenos]

I took measurements once I got the ball out, it really seems to be in good shape just most likely worn a bit. Yes rudder is very heavy thanks to a solid stainless 6ft long shaft

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