Items for Sale/Wanted

Hi Emily. It looks as though your rudder blade can probably be repaired have you slipped it out of the aluminum cheeks? I just finished doing some pretty major repairs on my blade using West system Epoxy. It’s a fairly simple process which can be done over the course of a few days for an hour or so each day. All you need is the West system or some other epoxy system and probably some clamps. As Stephen suggested remove the blade from the aluminum cheeks and post a picture. It will be easier to see if it can be repaired. Whatever you decide good luck! Oh one other point. This message is in the items for sale or wanted section and you would probably get more responses in the repair and upgrade forum.

Alice Hawrilenko

Sarasota, FL

Stuart Mariner Sail #4082

Lapwing

Hard to tell from the picture but it may be repairable. Have you been able to remove the pivot bolt and inspect the rudder around the bolt (I.e. remove it from the aluminum plates to get a better look)?

West System and others make an epoxy that is thin enough to soak into the wood. You might try that first before getting a new rudder. Perhaps fill in the hole with some other wood filler epoxy and drill a new hole.

So, I think I need to replace my rudder. If you folks think it can adequately be repaired, please let me know. However, I think it just needs to be replaced entirely.

It's a 1971 O'day Mariner 2+2. Old-school rudder/tiller assembly with the big (African mahogany?) rudder. I was doing repairs / maintenance on my tiller / rudder assembly. I found out that my rudder has a significant issue -- the wood by the pivot pin at the end of the cheeks (I might be using the wrong terminology) has cracked and has moved forward by about 5/16" (I am guessing, I can't reach in and measure it properly. I could probably cut off the portion that is sticking out and do repairs with wood glue, epoxy, etc. But, I am worried that this has compromised the entire rudder. If so, I would rather simply replace it instead of spending the time and effort for something that will fail in the near future.

The wood portion ABOVE the pivot bolt is in line with the wood portion below the pivot bolt. It is only the wood at the pivot bolt that is out of place.

I will try to add pics to show what I am talking about. It was hard to take good pictures of the problem.

Any advice is appreciated.