Rudder - small part oozing liquid

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Here is the odd case: When we first had our boat there were often patches on the rudder that were dribbling water. It might have not been water, it might have been a mixture of polyester resin and water like what comes out of gel-coat blisters.

In any case I just let them drain while working on the rest of the bottom, often a few days. When they stopped, sometimes barely stopped, sometimes still seeping, I epoxied over them and applied bottom paint.

Over the years there has been less and less seeping.

Now, and for the last few years, The rudder has had no places of leaking water. I clean the growth, sand thoroughly, and repaint.

I don't know, maybe I sealed in all the water.

No doubt about it, you can seal things up and they may last a long time. Decks are a good example. it really depends on how much strength the particular boat requires from the deck.
Rudders: ditto, as long as the foam hasn't went so mushy that the interior steel/SS isn't moving withing the rudder shell.
I really doubt removing all the black rotten core in the V berth overhead on the boat in my Avatar really changed much, other than it's weight on my mind!

[El Pinguino]

Knowing the class of boat would help... maybe someone on here knows the internal structure and has had the same issue.

My story.... Westerly Sealord... rudder is a s/s steel stock with a s/s 'plate rudder' about 80% the area of the actual rudder with 3 or 4 webs. This is covered in closed cell foam which in turn is covered with a f/g outer skin. Probably the same on all Westerlies of her era.

So some 20 years or so ago I was concerned about rather a lot of very small blisters ( non osmotic - is that a word? - as it turns out ) on the rudder.

So I drilled a small test hole on one side about half way down...eeek... water squirts out.
Rudder removed... shell split.... inspected...

Water had been getting in at the exit point of the stock - which is maybe an inch or two under water - running down between shell and foam to the first web and lying on it.

It would have been less than a 500ml of water in total had found its way in over 15 years.

So... based on my experience rather than dropping the rudder straight away I would suggest a series of small test holes across the face of the rudder... if you find more then move up to a 1" diam inspection hole.

Then decide whether it is a complete rebuild or a simple localised open up, dry out, and repair.

I doubt it is full of water....

[schchris]

Hello, Thanks a lot for the replies and feedback. Very much appreciated!

I checked the rudder, as you kindly suggested, but there does not seem to be any noticeable play in it. I will drill a few holes to help it drain out for the moment but will take the suggestion to pull out one side to remove any soggy foam in the near future.

I'm also thinking of putting marine grease where the shaft is in contact with water to try and mitigate against future water seepage inside the rudder.

With reference to freezing, currently here in Malta it's summer and the temperature is around 35 celsius (95 fahrenheit), so definitely no issue with freezing.

BTW, the boat is an Elan 333.

[Elie]

The very probable cause of this obvious water ingress and saturation is the place where rudder shaft enter the rudder. The torsional effect is highest at this place, and polyester résin used to attache the post tu the rudder is alway the flaw. Long time ago I have fixed this problem by redoing the attachment of the rudder post using west system epoxy that is much stronger than polyester.