On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:16:04 -0800 (PST), Frank
wrote:

I hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question. But I've noticed
what appears to be small cracks in my rudder on my 28 ft sloop. It's a
fiberglass spade rudder. The rudder is approximately four feet in
height. The bottom of the rudder on one side ( no more than a foot and
a half from the bottom edge) is showing small "X"'s and lines about
1.5 to 2 inches in length.
I first noticed them last year, just before launching the boat for
the season. I covered them up with bottom paint since I didn't have
the time to investigate. When the boat came out of the water in the
Fall I began to see these same cracks appearing thru the bottom paint
again.
Does anyone have any experience with this or has seen it before. I'm
thinking that water has penetrated the gelcoat and is leaking out when
the boat is up on the stands during the off season.
If this is the case, anyone have suggestions for the best way to rid
all of the water out of the rudder? Oh, and one other note. This
rudder ( and hull) was stripped down to the gelcoat and had barrier
coat applied in the late 1990's. Water shouldn't be pentrating it al
all.

Frank


If the rudder is built with a foam core, covered with glass cloth it
probably has started to absorb water. Try drilling a number of holes
in the cracked area and around it to determine whether water ingress
is your problem. You can fill the holes later with epoxy filler if no
problems are found.

It is common to find foam rudder that have started to absorb water
through almost invisible cracks, holes and voids.

Depending on the extent of any water ingress you may be able to cut
out the saturated portions and glue in new foam and recover with glass
cloth, fair and repaint. Or, you may need to tear the rudder apart and
rebuild it. An honest, competent, fiberglass guy would be a great
asset in checking this.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(Note:remove underscores
from address for reply)