Stemar
Well-Known Member
\'Kin\' \'Ell - Snapdragon Owners beware!!!
This weekend was always going to be a bit tight schedule-wise. The bloke who was supposed to make up my new rudder shoe and sleeve the bottom of the rudder shaft finally got is act into gear and I got them back on Friday afternoon. An hour's sanding and a bit of epoxying and the rudder was done, ready to fit on Saturday morning, leaving Saturday afternoon to glass the shoe onto the skeg ready to coppercoat on Sunday.
That was the plan, but...
The rudder didn't want to go in.
I took the top bearing off and realised that there was this piece of copper pipe flapping around loose. Further investigation revealed that it was the top 2/3 of my rudder tube, completely corroded away and no longer connected to the bottom of the boat. Yikes!!
Access is over the top of the engine and down under the cockpit. I wasn't sylph-like, nor particularly agile at 21 and 35 years of a taste for real ale and a distaste for excercise haven't improved matters. Getting in with the angle grinder was bad enough, but I'm still not sure how I got out again!
My rudder tube is now a piece of wind surfer mast liberated from the yard's junk pile, so presumably, corrosion will no longer be an issue. The rudder's back in and moving smoothly with no more clonks, but the schedule up to the lift-in on Saturday's stuffed.
The frightening this is that the rudder tube was a simple piece of 1 1/2 copper tube, tucked away several feet behind the engine and inaccessible except when seriously motivated and not pressed for time. As a result, it's unlikely to get inspected properly and if it had broken while at sea, especially in a bit of a blow, the risk of getting trapped and going down with the boat would have made it far too dangerous to try and fix it.
Other Snappies may not have the same arrangement, but I would strongly suggest that those that do should make urgent checks.
This weekend was always going to be a bit tight schedule-wise. The bloke who was supposed to make up my new rudder shoe and sleeve the bottom of the rudder shaft finally got is act into gear and I got them back on Friday afternoon. An hour's sanding and a bit of epoxying and the rudder was done, ready to fit on Saturday morning, leaving Saturday afternoon to glass the shoe onto the skeg ready to coppercoat on Sunday.
That was the plan, but...
The rudder didn't want to go in.
I took the top bearing off and realised that there was this piece of copper pipe flapping around loose. Further investigation revealed that it was the top 2/3 of my rudder tube, completely corroded away and no longer connected to the bottom of the boat. Yikes!!
Access is over the top of the engine and down under the cockpit. I wasn't sylph-like, nor particularly agile at 21 and 35 years of a taste for real ale and a distaste for excercise haven't improved matters. Getting in with the angle grinder was bad enough, but I'm still not sure how I got out again!
My rudder tube is now a piece of wind surfer mast liberated from the yard's junk pile, so presumably, corrosion will no longer be an issue. The rudder's back in and moving smoothly with no more clonks, but the schedule up to the lift-in on Saturday's stuffed.
The frightening this is that the rudder tube was a simple piece of 1 1/2 copper tube, tucked away several feet behind the engine and inaccessible except when seriously motivated and not pressed for time. As a result, it's unlikely to get inspected properly and if it had broken while at sea, especially in a bit of a blow, the risk of getting trapped and going down with the boat would have made it far too dangerous to try and fix it.
Other Snappies may not have the same arrangement, but I would strongly suggest that those that do should make urgent checks.
