Gudgeon Issues on Allied Seawind 30

[Dirty Sailor]

Hello all!
I pulled the rudder off of my boat a month or so ago to repaint it, and today I came back to the boatyard to hang it again and before I did I kind of messed with the gudgeon on top and realized that it had some play to it. I have included a poorly done diagram of what I am talking about.
I am wondering what I should do, and if anyone knows how bad it is. The gudeon is anchored through the hull and I am afraid that if it is loose it will possibly take on water.
Would it be fine to simply clean it up and then put some kind of heavy duty sealant on the outside and inside? Or do I need to replace the whole thing? I think replacing it is outside of my skill level, and the bolt that is attached to the thing probably hasnt been touched in the boats 50 year lifespan.
The lower two gudgeons are rock solid.
Another image is the interior view of what the gudgeon is anchored to.
Any insight or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Owen H.

[Dirty Sailor]

Sorry, looks like I dont understand how to post pictures here. The link below is to imgur, and shows both.
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

[Dirty Sailor]

Sorry, images below
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

[Don C L]

Hi Owen,

Great old classic I hear. Haven't seen one yet though. It would be nice to see some photos of the troubled gudgeon. It is below the water line right? And can you get access to it from inside to see if water has been coming in there? I am not familiar with how Allied installed the gudgeons, but if it were me I'd want to get it solid like the others. It may involve a bit of repair or implantation of epoxy putty to build up the edges before gooping it up and rebolting it, but I am flying blind here.

edit: ah ok, I see, only one bolt? Hard to tell what that backing block is made of. I am guessing the bolt is integral to the gudgeon. If the backing block is still solid (which I doubt, but you never know) it may be a simple matter of pulling the gudgeon off, applying an epoxy putty to rough edges of bolt hole to restrengthen it and then goop it up and re-bolt it. But personally I would take it out to have a look, knowing full well that it may well take 3 times as long and cost 3 times as much as I thought it would. If it doesn't, go out to a fancy meal and celelbrate!

[bletso]

Why am I not seeing the pics?

I have gudgeons as well and had to do some repair to them and the mounting. There was water ingress from the lower gudgeon into the keel and bilge!

Gudgeon Leak | Sailing Vessel Vigah

[thruska]

Originally Posted by Dirty Sailor

Hello all!
I pulled the rudder off of my boat a month or so ago to repaint it, and today I came back to the boatyard to hang it again and before I did I kind of messed with the gudgeon on top and realized that it had some play to it. I have included a poorly done diagram of what I am talking about.
I am wondering what I should do, and if anyone knows how bad it is. The gudeon is anchored through the hull and I am afraid that if it is loose it will possibly take on water.
Would it be fine to simply clean it up and then put some kind of heavy duty sealant on the outside and inside? Or do I need to replace the whole thing? I think replacing it is outside of my skill level, and the bolt that is attached to the thing probably hasnt been touched in the boats 50 year lifespan.
The lower two gudgeons are rock solid.
Another image is the interior view of what the gudgeon is anchored to.
Any insight or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Owen H.

It needs to be pulled apart, cleaned up and rebedded with a more substantial backing piece, imo.