rudder crack

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jaycee

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hello,whilst preparing my colvic atlanta for the water,i noticed that there was a 6 inch narrow crack in the fibreglass surrounding the steel shaft that leads up to the mechanism that houses the emergency tiller/wheel steering.there is a little rust coloured fluid emanating from the crack.not wanting to suddenly loose steering and also some distance from a reliable technicion my immidiate response was to consider silkaflex or something simiiar.any thoughts?
 
I think you should investigate further.Sikaflex is definately not the way to go.If you could post some pictures it would help.
 
as a general rule the rudder is made up of a steel shaft with "wings" on, then the body is made of a cored figlass thing. if you have a crack, it suggests that the shaft is corroding, the corrosion is expanding the figlass and hence the crack, sorry to be the tider of bad news but if it was mine i would have it off, and cut through the crack to see what is going on, catastrophic failure could happen if it is as bad as i think it could be.
Stu
 
If I understand you, the crack is in the hull, next to where the rudder shaft goes up into the boat, in which case the rudder isn't directly involved

I'd want to see whats going on on the inside of the hull. Any signs of a crack there would be potentially very serious, and probably time to talk to a professional. If there are no signs of problems inside, I'd be tempted to grind the crack away to see how deep it is and where the rusty water is coming from. It may turn out to be something fairly minor, but you are in can of worms territory, so I hope you're not on a tight schedule to go back in!

I definitely agree with 30boat. Sikaflex is very unlikely to be the cure, and it does need to be investigated.
 
I too agree with the other replies, and suggest some pics so we can give you more specific advice, but dont just ignore it as it will only get worse.
 
no,apologies for not being precise, and, unfortunately i do,nt have pictures.the small thin crack is along the fiberglass casing that encloses the rudder,and leads upwards through the underneath of the transom to the steering gear.the steel rod is encapsulated in f/glass of which the rudder is also made of.my real question is do i mend the crack or do i get an expert in to take the whole rudder off the boat and reinstall.
 
This kind of work is usualy not very difficult.If you take the rudder off and start grinding it will be obvious to you what has to be done.Maybe there's extensive corrosion on the metal tangs that needs to be put right.Epoxy and roving is the best for this type of repair.
 
G'day John,

I'm confused, you said:

<<<The small thin crack is along the fiberglass casing that encloses the rudder, and leads upwards through the underneath of the transom to the steering gear. the steel rod is encapsulated in f/glass>>>

It sounds like the crack in not part of the rudder, but in fact part of the tube inside the boat that contains the rudder shaft (stock).

BTW the steel rod (rudder Stock) is more often contained in a stainless steel tube that fibreglassed into position; this ensures a longer life than just a glass tube. I suspect any rust in this area can be repaired by exposing and removing it without using any steel tools like a file etc as the iron left behind will ensure more rust later, Pickling with paste from your local steel fabricator will remove the contamination.

I hope this helps

Avagoodweekend......
 
Andrew Simpson of PBO once told me that it not possible to stop water entering a fiberglass rudder. I suspect this is due to the differential expansion and the tremendous forces applied underway. If he is not right I suspect it takes a sophisticated system to defeat the water entry. My old Etap had an aluminium stock and possibly aluminium tangs too so I was concerned about corrosion.
 
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