Hi Mark, The rudder on the 25 is pretty simple. Two fibreglass shells bonded together with plywood bonded inside the top third. The plywood ends about 1" below the bottom gudgeon fitting, from there to the bottom it is hollow. There should be a small hole at the bottom of the ruder and another at the base of the "L" in the front of the rudder where the balance part extends under the hull. The hollow part is designed to fill with water so it is important to keep these holes open. It sounds like the plywood has absorbed some water over the years and has slightly swelled, cracking the aft joint. Ideally you should take off the rudder and store it inside in a heated room and open up the aft seam to expose the plywood to allow it to dry out. After the plywood has dried out you can fill the seam to reseal it. The wood probably absorbed water from the lower gudgeon mounting holes so re-seal them too. Pouring some acetone into the crack when you're drying out the rudder may help to draw out some of the moisture from the plywood, just keep open flame away. You should be OK as is for your trip down the ICW since you will be motoring all the way.
Rick Taillieu Nemesis '75 C&C 25 #371 Shearwater Yacht Club Halifax, NS. -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark McMenamy via CnC-List Sent: February-29-16 21:27 To: [email protected] Cc: Mark McMenamy Subject: Stus-List Rudder crack C&C 25 Hello everyone, I have a crack on the aft portion of the rudder where the two halves are joined. From what I can see, It is above the waterline. Recently I had a survey done and the moisture meter said there was some dampness behind the crack. Also, there are three or four dime sized blisters below the waterline. The rudder does not seem to be weeping when removed from the water. The surveyor said the rudder was serviceable but that I'd need to fix it in the future. Any ideas on how to repair my rudder? I saw an article online on how to fix rudder cracks on the side, but I'm not quite sure how to fix the aft joint. Also, the boat is in St Augustine and I need to move it to Fort Pierce. I'm planning on motoring down the ICW in a couple weeks. I'd rather take care of it when I get the boat to it's new home. But I'm curious if you think I should take care of it before I leave. Thanks a lot, Mark McMenamy C&C 25 "Icicle" Fort Pierce FL _______________________________________________ Email address: [email protected] To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
