Rudder blues

[RedHerring]

Ericson 35-2 of 1979 vintage.

On a coastal cruise last week we anchored with stern tied to the shore, anchor dragged during the night and we ended up bumping the aft bottom corner of the rudder blade into the rocks twice before we could get away. There is some visible damage on that corner, about half an inch.

Several days later we were driving her upwind fairly hard, at 20 degrees heel into a 25 knot wind and some 6' chop, and noticed that the tiller fitting in the cockpit is moving sideways about 1/16"-1/8" and every once in a few seconds the rudder post makes a rather loud knocking sound. The knocking disappeared when the wave action subsided. The movement stayed. Actually steering the boat was fine and dandy all along.

When I was looking for the source of those knocks, I did not see any cracks on the rudder post tube, although I could only see it from one side. Saw the rudder gland leaking water (thin continuous streak) into the bilge when underway. Found a thread somewhere on Ericson owners' forum, basically advising to pump the rudder post full of grease through a Zerk fitting to stop that.

What would you do about all this if you were me? The obvious answer is "haul out, drop rudder, fix the rudder blade damage and whatever allows the rudder to move around". Question is, do I have to do it before I do any more sailing?

[model 10]

It only takes one rudder failure to make you a believer. Deal with it as soon as possible.

[gah964]

haul it out if you plan on sailing it.

[rognvald]

" the tiller fitting in the cockpit is moving sideways about 1/16"-1/8" and every once in a few seconds the rudder post makes a rather loud knocking sound." RedHerring



Red,
This lateral action describes a bad rudder shaft bearing which allows the rudder shaft to move within the rudder tube. As others have suggested, the best course of action is to haul your boat, pull the rudder and do a complete inspection. While the rudder is out, be certain to inspect your rudder tube from the inside and outside to determine if there is any damage. Good luck and good sailing.

[RedHerring]

Well, we've figured this story out. There was very little lateral play in the rudder itself (~ a millimetre), which is to say the lower bushing is not quite worn out yet. There was quite a bit more play in the upper part of rudder post, but what was actually important in this story, was rather large VERTICAL play.

The loud knocks apparently were from the rudder being occasionally pushed UP the rudder post by a wave, then falling down. The rudderpost head fitting striking the top edge of the upper bushing was the actual source (as opposed to rudder post itself hitting the bushing wall).

Where that vertical play came from is a more complicated story I cannot tell without waving hands and pointing fingers, but that's beside the point. Everyone said to try and move the rudder sideways; what I really needed for the diagnosis here was to move it up and down instead.

[barnakiel]

Drop the rudder. Build a new one. Done.

b.

[RedHerring]

Heh. And why stop at just the rudder, right?

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