Rudder - high moisture reading?

[Tim Good]

I appreciate rudders often have a higher moisture reading than the hull of the same boat for example.

However, on a boat I'm considering buying, on a scale of 1-100 the reading for the Hull was relatively low but the rudder was 100. It looks, feels and sounds ok an the barings show very little play. It has been laid up on the dry for over 6 months.

Should this be a big concern and what else might I do to check for any major issues?

 

[Javelin]

Its not uncommon to find this on rudders.
My rudder was the same.
The joint between stock and blade is notorious for leaking as the glass flexes and the stock doesn't.
Not a difficult fix overall.
A few strategically drilled holes, wick out the moisture and epoxy.
Really bad delaminated rudders can be re-cored and skinned and is certainly not beyond diy on boats less than 30ft.
Arbocol 1000 is great for the joint area here as well as hull/keel joints.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Its not uncommon to find this on rudders.
My rudder was the same.
The joint between stock and blade is notorious for leaking as the glass flexes and the stock doesn't.
Not a difficult fix overall.
A few strategically drilled holes, wick out the moisture and epoxy.
Really bad delaminated rudders can be re-cored and skinned and is certainly not beyond diy on boats less than 30ft.
Arbocol 1000 is great for the joint area here as well as hull/keel joints.

Agreed: our boat had the same problem and the surveyor was entirely pragmatic about it. He said to drop the rudder and dry it out when we had time but it wasn't urgent. Ten years on our rudder has finally been taken out and dried and rebuilt, but I suspect that it would have carried on for another ten years anyway.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

I'd be very tempted to drill a small hole in the bottom of the rudder and see how much water comes out.
My main concern would be corrosion of the metal tangs which are often welded onto the rudder stock inside the blade.
Salt water and an anaerobic environment can produce significant corrosion even on good quality SS.
If you get a stream of water, I'd do something about sooner than later.
If it fails in strong winds and waves and you loose control of the boat because you "loose" the rudder, it could be really dangerous.

 

[Twister_Ken]

My Twister had the same problem.

Drilled two holes, P&S, low down. Let it drain over the winter. Plugged them with self-tappers. Sailed the summer, removed the screws when ashore in the winter. Seemed to work.