CAL 35 Rudder weeping rusty water

[Harmonysailor]

Hello group:
I've discovered rust stained water weeping from port side of the rudder. Ive drilled several 3/8" holes in the area and no bottom surface to help dryout over the winter. Now I'm investigating repair options. Is anyone familiar with the internal structure? Experiance with removal, repair, reinstallation? Options? For fun I've reached out to Foss Foam for a quote for replacement.

IMG_20231216_084939_474.jpg (3.7 MiB) Viewed 68130 times

Dan Dunmire
Harmony
1984 CAL35

[davenrino]

Personally, I would never trust that rudder out in the ocean. Of course I had Foss Foam/Finco in S. Cal build me a new rudder with nothing wrong with the old rudder other than being in salt water for 50 years.

[SailingChris]

I agree with the post suggesting a new rudder. The innards, the metal structure, of your rudder are compromised. Stainless steel develops crevice corrosion in an anaerobic environment--e.g., inside a wet, sealed-up rudder shell.

My other boat, a 1961 Seafarer built in the Netherlands, has a rudder with bronze structure. No weeping, no rust, no structural compromise. Later, manufacturers went to stainless (inexpensive) and sometimes even mild steel, from what I have read. And of course, my Cal 20's rudder is noncorrosive mahogany....

Chris Campbell
Cal 20 #1220, Martha C

[rcvesselstyn]

I have to agree with our friends. Unfortunately if rust is draining out something bad is happening. Just as a note to Chris however, we had a bronze rudder post with bronze internal structure on our Islander 24 and everything including the bronze internal supports snapped off of the shaft. I believe though, that it was under engineered.

[SailingChris]

The rudder on my old Seafarer has been severely tested. She has a bit of weather helm and for quite a few years it was extreme because I was too cheap to buy new sails and too stubborn to reef. The rudder is big and almost perfectly square and sometimes was under stall-inducing angles. It never crapped out. The engineering was apparently good. I should knock on wood here.

Chris Campbell

[GBR3068]

Hi Its been a while since I posted (and ! owe Mary a post on my Bimini modeled after hers).

You asked about construction. See Stan's page and the cross-section drawing of the Cal 40, https://www.cal40.com/windless-anchoring.php You can see the construction of the rudder which is similar to my Cal 34 at least with stainless tube spine aka rudder stock and welded stainless ribs.

You asked about removal, repair, options and install. I was getting my Cal 2-34 EOS ready for the SHTP and many peopled advised me that rudder failure was one of the more common problems. I had pulled the boat several times and noticed no problems with the rudder or bearing.The rudder post had filled with freshwater though at some point (must have been rain getting in through the deck plate covering the emergency tiller fitting) I looked into what it would take to check the rudder and inspect or make a new one. For sake of sanity, I decided just to get a new rudder. I dont think inspection and repair is a cost-viable option. My rudder looked like yours, and I think they must be the same or similar. Make sure you measure the diameter carefully, Foss will want to know. Dropping the rudder is pretty easy on land. Jackie Philpott dropped her Cal rudder in the water with some help. Check the play in the rudder tube carefully (I think some mylar shimming is inevitable). Ask Foss about the tube thickness you want. They made a bomb-proof Schedule 80 for me at 0.337 inches (8.56 mm) double the normal Schedule 40 wall thickness. Chris at Svendsens had to make an adapter for the emergency tiller to allow me to use Schedule 80. Anyway it got me to and from Hawaii with no problem. In really rough stuff I think its inevitable the stainless rudder stock tube shifts a bit in the fiberglass tube but you can see and feel if anything untoward is going on by lifting the deck plate over the emergency tiller fitting and you can see and feel the rudder stock turning in the fiberglass tube and tell if there's any excessive play. If you can feel any play by bashing around on the rudder when the boat is out thats probably going to translate to quite a bit of play when sailing. I have one grease nipple on the rudder tube below teh quadrant and I can stuff the tube with grease. You cant get the grease all the way up the tube but I found if you feed grease into the top of the tube between teh stainles rudder stock and the fiberglass tube wall using the emergency tiller deck plate for acess. Gravity then feeds it down. Work for me.

See Fred's Cal 40 rudder story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVeuVOA8Ek&t=63s (Fred is the PO of EOS). I got the same elliptical Schumacher rudder.

Here's Elliott from Svendsen's with my primed rudder

cal 34 rudder elliptical primed.jpeg (3.28 MiB) Viewed 68102 times

Here's the rudder on EOS

cal 34 rudder elliptical.jpeg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 68102 times

[Harmonysailor]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I believed replacement was the ultimate solution, and your responses helped confirmed it. But that might have to be next winter's project. I'll dry it out over the winter, plug the drain holes in the spring.

[Mark Coleman]

I took my rudder apart and had it welded and re foamed. These rudders can be repaired at a fraction of the cost of a new Foss rudder.
They are a strong design.
SV Wainui
Cal 48

[Capn ken]

Any thoughts on plastic instead of FRP? Ruddercraft of Boise Idaho recommended a plastic replacement .

[Harmonysailor]

I talked to Ruddercraft. They recommended Fiberglass over foam- traditional construction- for my CAL35. In the end I went with Foss Foam. Slightly less expensive but less risk as Foss has drawings and molds for it.