Rudder play

[Pavel24]

Hello,

I have a columbia 9.6 with skeg rudder . there is some play at the lower part where the rudder is clamped ??. i didnt find any information on this rudder, but from what i have seen i guesse its just clamping the rudder post and the post continue further down. I guesse there some kind of nylon bearing ?

The big problem is that i am in the water in bahamas , should i be realy worried or it can wait few moths until i hull out the boat ? I could try to change it in water but the whole think is painted over with anti fouling.

[coopec43]

Is this any help?


https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/know-your-rudder

[billknny]

Unlikely to have a nylon bearing. Bronze on bronze or even stainless on bronze is pretty self lubricating, and not at all subject to galling. (I am assuming that one or both parts are bronze...)

If it is old enough with enough rudder movement, the pin and/or the gudgeon it runs in is likely to have worn a bit. if the play is small enough to feel, but not "a lot"** it will be ok for a while longer...

Fixing might take some creativity. Welding many types of bronze that has been soaking in seawater for many years is very near impossible. The absorbed salts prevent the formation a a clean melt that can harden into good metal.

**In this case I'd call something like 0.25" 'a lot.'

[Pavel24]

I think i will do it like this :
Secure ruder with lines to the boat ( that it doesnt fall by accident)
Try to take off the two plates that are secured by 3 bolt
Then i will maybe use PVC pipe as plastic bearing to eliminate play ( if i am correct it serv as clamp )
After that i will verify after each sail until i come home(or some other place) and hull out to fix it properly.

I am near staniel cay , if any one can recommend some welder in this part of the bahamas to maybe fix it properly .

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Pavel24

I think i will do it like this :
Secure ruder with lines to the boat ( that it doesnt fall by accident)
Try to take off the two plates that are secured by 3 bolt
Then i will maybe use PVC pipe as plastic bearing to eliminate play ( if i am correct it serv as clamp )
After that i will verify after each sail until i come home(or some other place) and hull out to fix it properly.

I am near staniel cay , if any one can recommend some welder in this part of the bahamas to maybe fix it properly .

I am not against your plans but an alternative might be to force epoxy putty (maybe Sika 291) into the current worn bearing to take up the slack? (I'd also carry a steel bucket so I could tie a rope to it and drag it in the water for emergency steering at sea)

[boatbroke]

Hi Pavel24,

Sorry mate, plastic will disintergrate with the loads involved, bit of a waste of time.

Normally they can be re bushed, where the gudgeon hole is oversized and a nice new snug bush is pressed in.

Really is a job to be done out of the water the check all aligns and operates as it should.

Good luck with it!

[Pavel24]

I will search for a place to hull out , george town or nassau( i will try to find the least expensive) . will do the bottom paint at same time .

[Pavel24]

Finally, I didn't haul out yet, I reinforced the rudder shaft inside the boat and after that the play was almost gone. So I drilled a small hole in the clamp and used a syringe to inject epoxy with the west system 404 in the mix (underwater), the mix started do go out from every hole in the clamp around the rudder shaft. I turned the rudder from time to time, so it doesn't stick. After the epoxy cured, there is 0 plays so far .

I will check it regularly and if it starts again, I will haul out, but I think it should last some time.

From the looks of it, it played for some time and I just didnt notice. So i probably went from Montreal to Exumas like this. :x