Stiff rudder

[ohana34]

Been a while since posting to this board.   
Here's my latest issue;
Boat is 1991 walkthrough.
Ohana (I think) did a light vertical grounding at extremely low tide and the rudder landed on a piece of concrete (now removed) at the dock.
Now the symptoms,
went out sailing and the steering had gotten stiff, not extreme but no ticable different. It's the same through full travel.
Did all the checking, diving on the boat, locating the concrete, checking for damage and straitness.  Nothing seamed out of bed, except when removing the emergency steering cap and the shaft seems maybe a quarter inch or less taller.
The questions???
An easy way to move the rudder back into position??
Tried banging no the top, with wood and mallet, no luck.
Removed aft bulkhead to get at the sheave but very tight.
Is it possible to loosen the sheave, after removing water tank, and will the shaft be able to move back down??
Anyother ideas??
Thanks for any help
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Jim : I'm not too sure what to tell you with a walk thru transom.  From your post - You're assuming that the rudder is jammed  higher by 1/4", not hitting the "skag" and the stainless column is not bent.
If you were out of the water I'd tell you to remove the emergency tiller cap.  The weight of the rudder (while turning the wheel) will cause the rudder to slide down a few inches.  You won't loose the rudder because the quadrant and steering cables would hold it, BUT you'd have to push the rudder back up to reinstall the emergency tiller cap!!  Not too sure how you'd handle that in the water.
Think your best bet is to get the rudder back down is to spray some "Teflon" on the stainless column at the tiller cap and hope that it will move back down by turning the wheel back and forth.   Good Luck 

[ohana34]

Ron;
Walk through is a little different. The emergency tiller cap doesn't really do anything, rudder stays put when it's removed, have had it off several times.
I'm about to remove the watertank so I can see how this whole affair is puttogether, then I'll have a better idea on how to fix.
Thanks
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Jim : I'm well aw-here that the walk thru is different from the standard transom.  I was guessing that the top of the rudder column has some kind of removable adapter that the emergency tiller fits into.

Before you go thru the work of removing the aft tank, call Catalina and have them FAX you a drawing of how the rudder is held in the MK1 walk thru transom.  It might save you a bunch of work.  Then send that drawing to Mark so he can put it in Projects for the rest of us to see.   

[ohana34]

On my list for Tuesday to call them at Catalina.
There's a screw in ceck plate about 6inch dia that comes off.
The rudder post has a bolt through it about 1 inch from the top and the emergency tiller (a pipe with a notch cut to fit the bolt) slides inside the rudder post about 4 inches.
1st time I took this plate off, found the rudder post filled with high density foam all the way to the top.  Took about an hour to chip enough away to get the emergency tiller to fit.
Glad I looked before I needed it.
Will followup with info from Catalina.
Thanks
Jim

[ohana34]

Ron;
I did get the engineering drawings for the rudder mounting assembly.
Who should I send them too??
Jim

[Stu Jackson]

Jim

Please send the drawing(s) to Mark Elkin at MELKIN@SAN.RR.COM.  He is our Associate Webmaster for Projects and FAQs.  He will then post it in the projects section which can be found at http://www.c34.org/projects/projects.html.  Thanks, and good luck.

[captran]

Just wondering if some one still has those drawings, as they are not on the projects page.  If not, I'll call the engineering folks and ask for a copy.    also wondering if installing a new rudder, is it best to go ahead and order new bushings and end cap too?  and finally, did anyone ordering a new rudder have recommendations on shipping?  Catalina says they have no idea on the shipping arrangements. Thanks.

[Jeff Kaplan]

randy, i had a new rudder from catalina sent to me for my '86. same one used now for the wing keel style. catalina  shipped it via ups  across country and cost me about $105. not too bad...jeff kaplan

[Craig Illman]

I'd like to see the rudder post drawing too, since I have the following hull number to ohana34.  I'm seriously considering a rudder upgrade this winter. CLRMarine (www.clrmarine.com) has C36 HPDE replacement for a similar cost as the Catalina replacement. Chuck Reed said they were working on the C34 design. Nice to have options.

Craig

[dave davis]

I have an older model 1988, but when I was upgrading to a elliptical rudder, I was surprised how boyant the rudder is in the watter.
If I were you, I would go below with a two foot flat crowbar and see if you can shove it into the gap between the top of the rudder and the skagg. Sounds like the gap is very small which maybe causing the problem.
Good Luck, Dave

[Craig Illman]

Correction...  I just got an email from Chuck Reed, his supplier has decided to quit manufacturing the HPDE rudders  , although he still has a C34 walk-thru shoal draft in stock.  Guess I'm back to getting one from Catalina.

Craig

[captran]

Next week I'll call the tech dept and see if I can get the drawings, and I'll call Catalina re the shipping.  in their e mail to me with the current price of 1544 they said they didnt know about shipping. if 105 bucks is all they charged for cross country, that sounds pretty good.  from previos posts sounds like the best way to access the quadrant is to remove the back panel and box in the aft cabin.  Seems like I can do that part and have it all accessible but I think I'll have the yard do the actual installation.  also from prior posts, sounds like there's some drilling of a hole in the shaft as well as sometimes cutting the shaft top.  Mine is an 97 Mark II.  4 years ago I had a grounding as a storm with waterspout approached.  Long story short- had to shave off  about 1/8" 3" long off the top back end of the rudder.  smoothed out and reslassed with west but worried about how that grounding affected the rudder intregrity.  A few blisters appeared this year which did not exist before.  Steers fine, turns fine, but somethings going on in there and a new rudder would certainly eliminate any worry and maintain the value of the boat.  Thanks for info all.

[Footloose]

I have heard that you can save a few bucks on shipping if you order the rudder through a Catalina dealer.  What they will do is put the rudder in with a boat that is being shipped to the dealer.  I am sure that the dealer will want some profit so check out all the number before blindly going into this.  I agree that 105 is not bad for shipping so you may not be able to save anything.

[ohana34]

  Fixed the problem on Ohana quite a while ago.
I've still got the rudder drawings from Catalina as bmp files.
Send me email and I'll forward, no problem
If they need to be resent to C34 site, let me know
Jim