new rudder

[Jeff Kaplan]

just a follow up note from my past posts about  my new rudder for #219. ordered new rudder 2nd week of nov.from catalina parts, just received today. the rudder post on old one was 35 5/8". new ones are 35 3/8". faxed all measurments to chris in parts and to kent in tech .service, as i thought this measurment was critical. the new post is 36" so it will have to be altered slightly. i am in the process of finding a full service mechine shop in the local area to cut and drill both rudder cap hole and quad. hole. pt# 10787 is for a wing keel, closesd transom model. my boat has a shallow draft keel, 4'8'', so they supply one for the wing keel models. pt. #24231 is for the emer. post cap. total cost including crating and shipping across the country was $1,494, not too bad, actually arrived ups. a follow up question- to those of you who have replaced your rudder, what did you do , if anything, prior to  painting? is there anything you put on first?  my boat is in salt water so i use ablative antifouling paint. any suggestions will be appreciated. happy holidays...jeff kaplan

[Ron Hill]

Jeff : A new rudder is just like a new bottom !!
If there isn't an epoxy barrier coat on your new rudder you need to put one on.  I'd spray on 3/4 coats or roller on 2 barrier coats.  Then before your last barrier coat fully cures I'd paint on a hard bottom paint of a contrasting color.  Then I'd put on an ablative bottom paint of still another contrasting color.  Then when you see the hard bottom coat color you know it's time to repaint.   

[Jeff Kaplan]

thanks ron, i will call catalina tomorrow and ask if the rudder was barrier coated. if not, i will follow your advice and coat it and than put on one coat of antifouling paint. it will give me a little project for the winter. just before launch time, i will put on 2 coats of a contrasting color. i use interlux 669, blue, single season ablative antifouling paint. used to use it on my c27 for years with good results up here in the boston area. just got our first major snow storm, so it's going to be a long, cold winter, but ,spring is just around the corner. happy holidays...jeff

[Jeff Kaplan]

ron, called catalina today and as you expected, this is a bare rudder needing to be barrier coated. on your post to me you mentioned that just prior to the final barrier coat curing, apply a hard coat of antifouling paint.why prior to cure and not when fully cured? will this in fact seal the rudder? what's your thoughts on this? rudder in machine shop now being cut and drilled. not that i will need it for 5 or so months, but i feel better when things are done. thanks...jeff

[Ron Hill]

Jeff : When you put the barrier coat on the rudder, the product info on the can will give you a curing time(or call the company).  This time is usually based on the mix and the ambient temperature. 
If the epoxy fully cures you'll have to SAND before you can apply the next coat or it won't STICK!!!   If you apply it or paint before it is fully cured the next layer of epoxy or paint will chemically ad-hear to the layer underneath.  You can usually paint over clean paint without sanding.   

[dave davis]

Jeff, Nice to hear you are adding a new rudder. you will like it, I'M sure.
When I bought my boat ,17 years ago, the CY were not recommending any epoxy coating because they were adding something they called "Blister Guard" made by Glidden into the Gel Coat. What they are using now is worth finding out by calling and getting the info.
The only bad blisters that I have had was on the keel, which I had th remove by severe sanding down to the lead. CY help pay for the problem and they blamed it on the CY worker did not wait long enough to allow the coats of epoxy to fully cure between coats.They explained that during the cure a gas is given off which interferes with the next coat.

The next problem came on the hull itself, sheets of paint were falling of at my initial bottum painting. This was caused by the mold release that the factory requires on the mold so that they can strip out the hull after curring. They told me that they would not guaranty against blisters if I did any sanding of the hull. So, you can see I was caught in the middle. I tried liquid sanding and mold release cleaner with very limited results. It took a few years to get rid of all the flaking paint.

When I bought my new design rudder, it also had mold release on it. I did a good sanding before bottom painting and never put any epoxy on it. Its been fine for several years.

Good luck, I'm just another view point.
Dave

[Stephen Butler]

The new rudder for our 1990, #1023, arrived within two weeks of ordering, along with new bushings and rudder head.  Had the yard remove the old broken rudder and install the new.  Interesting process. The old rudder dropped out without difficulty.  The new rudder went in with a few problems.  First, the hulls rudder stops had to be shaved a bit to allow free movement.  An esay fix.  Also, the new rudder hangs just slightly below our standard keel, which is not a wonderful design in the "thin" waters here in Florida.  As it turned out, our original rudder which was destroyed in Hurricaine Wilma, would have had to be replaced in a few years in any event.  The old rudder was cracked open when the boat came off the stands and the internal metal structure was very rusty.  We had never seen any indications of rust, but nature was definitely workinginside the structure.  The installed rudder is being sealed and coats of bottom paint will follow.  Additionally, we just got a peek into the boat after it went over in the hurricaine...no damage that we can see, so we appear to have been extremely lucky.  The only other damage to our boat is a twisted pulpit and one bent stantion, both of which will be replaced in June.  For now, we launch on Wednesday and go sailin.