wet rudder?

[kendall]

Original Ariel rudder, and the PO glassed it, can't say much other than it's smooth.

Was thinking I may get in the water this spring, but while out checking things out I noticed (Ok, I was just admiring her) that the rudder has a 'cup' in it.
It looks like shes cocked off to port, but leading and trailing edges are in line, with stbd 'bubbled' out.

I've looked at it, worked on it, sanded the bottom and done some painting but never noticed it before, Only two things I can come up with is that I've totally missed it, or it's a recent developement. I'm leaning towards the recent bit, it's been cloudy in the mornings, then sunny in warm in the afternoon, boat faces north, so the sun warms the port side.

Does that sound like there's a lot of water in the rudder?
Is it going to hurt?
Should postpone launch, peel off the glass, let it dry and reglass? or leave bare?

Ken.

[Oscar]

Are there any cracks? Feel the bottom.. Look for moisture. If you want to be sure do a biopsy. Drill some 1/4" holes and see what comes out. If it's dry plug the holes and go sailing. If it's wet go to plan B.

[Hirilondë]

Is it a wooden rudder that has been glassed over?

[Oscar]

That was my interpretation....

[kendall]

Yeap, it's a wooden rudder, the same as the triton's.
I'll bore a couple holes and see if it leaks.

Has to be a recent developement, it's been in the same spot for the last 8 months or so right in front of the garage. When the shop door's open, I'm looking at the rudder. It's just not likely for something to be crooked for that long without me noticing it.
I know wood moves with moisture, but that seems like a LOT

Ken.

[Hirilondë]

Fiberglassing over a conventionally constructed wooden anything is a serious mistake in my opinion. The wood is now warped and I know of nothing you can do to change it. Wood needs to breath, expand and contract. Glassing over it made it impossible to do any of the 3 properly. In the glorious days of wooden boat building craftsmen learned how wood behaves. They learned they could not change this behavior. They developed techniques that cooperated with the behavior. Today some people think they can overcome these behaviors. They are wrong.

[Rachel]

I agree with Dave. If the original wooden rudder was glassed over it's asking for trouble (which it sounds like you now have). The original rudder would most likely have been planks held together with drift pins. The pins allow the wood to move naturally while the rudder stays rudder-shaped. Covering that with fiberglass would really mess with the natural order of things.

A plywood rudder could be fiberglassed because plywood doesn't move in the same way that planks do (it has been somewhat "tamed" by the laminations all going in different directions). That's not to say plywood would be my first choice for a rudder core, but I think it can be fiberglassed over successfully.

I suppose there is a chance that you could de-fiberglass your rudder and salvage it, but it's hard to say for sure. It might have been glassed over because it had problems, but it also might have been glassed over because someone saw gaps in the planks and decided to modernize and "quick, get rid of those gaps!" (when the gaps were actually a completely normal part of the seasonality of a plank rudder). If the glass will come off (maybe they didn't prep well and it will peel off), there's no harm in trying (although it may not un-warp).

Rachel

[kendall]

Those are pretty much the direction I was thinking, never had a glassed over rudder, but have seen quite a few of them. Was kind of hoping it was 'normal' reaction with them.
I've never been a fan of glassing them either, but take what you get I guess!

I'll see about pulling the glass off, I'm hoping the work can be done with the rudder in place, she's on a trailer right now with a crossmember running right in the way if I want to drop it!


Thanks, will post resuslt!

Ken.