RUDDER FITTING MAINTENANCE

[gts1544]

I have a 1981 Ta Tong 43' Cape Horn Cutter, built in Taiwan. Shortly after hauling her, I noticed a vertical rust streak on the rudder near the hinge line. Not being much of a shipwright, I asked the yard to investigate. They discovered the upper rudder attach fitting to be badly rusted. A new one had to be fabricated out of SS and fitted into place. The moral of the story is don't ignore signals that your boat is trying to send you. Boats don't fix themselves and preventative maintenance always trumps waiting until something breaks at sea and then having to deal with the results there.