Venture 22 rudder repair

[Pete]

The rudder on my new venture needs some attention. The big problem is that it has exposed wood that has some rot. I ordered some special wood rot epoxy from Jamestown. I am going to try and sand everything down and fill the rot with epoxy and we will see what happens. The only question is how do I get all the water out before I seal it up? or do I even need to. The rudder was in the water as early as last Thursday. I have been keeping it dry sense. but it could take months to fully dry.


hole in bottom of rudder.


exposed wood in upper rudder



exposed wood in bottom rudder


tiller after sanding

[johnnyonspot]

Maybe leave it in a dry room over the winter and let it dry that way, or perhaps use a heat gun on it. I would go the winter-over in a dry, reasonably warm room, though.

My rudder looked a lot like yours, with the gouge in the bottom as if it had been dragged on a paved road for a while, as well as some gouges along the leading and trailing edges. I filled mine in with fiber strand body filler and painted it white with flat white spray paint. Looked plenty fine to me when done. The other option would of course be to buy a new Ida Sailor rudder blade or entire assembly. I hear they give much better performance, but are pretty spendy.

[Pete]

I don't plan to pay out for the ida sailor. So I guess I need to dry mine out. I really don't want to wait all winter for it to dry either. I may try adding a little heat from a halogen work light to speed it up. I can set it up and turn the lights on while I am working on other things. I don't like to leave those lights unattended because they get so hot.

[Venio]

I'll strongly suggest to get the rudder dry. The epoxy may delaminate from the moisture inside the rudder. Sanding it and cleaning out the rotten parts may speed up the drying.

I pulled out my rudder and tiller today for refinishing. The boat has been out of the water at least few months so the rudder is dry. I'll post pictures as the work progresses.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[Pete]

I have had two 500w halogen lights on the rudder for two weeks now. I have them positioned about 12 inches away, which heats the rudder up pretty good. I have been checking progress by wrapping it in plastic wrap at night ,which captures the moisture if there is any. So far there is still water coming out of it.

[Hamin' X]

Since you are going to be filling and repairing anyway, try drilling a series of small holes along the length of the side. This will allow the moisture to escape without having to migrate so far.

~Rich

[Pete]

Like this?

[Pete]

Here is the rudder bracket backing plate. It needs to be replaced.

[Hamin' X]

Exactly what I was thinking of. Looks like you already did it. I would suggest that the heat come from underneath.

~Rich

[alright]

Looks like you are doing a lot of work I need to do. I am currently rebuilding my rudder from a blade to a kick up. Can you or any one else post some pics of the complete set up of the kick up type rudder? I have started the upper and lower but was wondering about the outer cheeks and the way I wanted it to stay up/down. Thanks every one

[Jason Jones]

If you are still having trouble getting the rudder to dry out with the heat and the holes drilled, you can pour acetone into the holes. The alcohol will help pull out the moisture, yet will dry very quickly. Be very careful with heat if you choose to use the acetone method. You can check out the West Marine epoxy manual for more information on drying this way.

[Pete]

Great tip. Had not heard of that before. Anyways It had close to 6 months to dry out. Its much lighter now. I have already started to repair the holes and get it ready to go back in the water. I am just making sure I have it all sealed up, otherwise it was all a waste of time.

[ChockFullOnuts22]

Is that plywood? Mine is made out of solid teak. I have to sand it and apply a fresh coat of Spar Urethane every season, but it holds up surprisingly well for being kept in the water all season. It's never waterlogged on me.

I didn't realize that MacGregor ever used plywood in their rudders. I had thought that the non-teak rudders were 100% fiberglass or synthetic of some sort....



(I launched her this past weekend)

[Pete]

Its plywood as best as I can tell and I am sure its origonal. Teak rudder? I have not hear of Macgregor ever doing that. Got any pictures?

Pete

[ChockFullOnuts22]

I got the picture working again...don't know what happened with the red x. Sorry it's zoomed out, but that's the only picture I have of the rudder. My boat is currently a half an hour away in its slip, or I'd take a fresh close-up picture for you.