I need your expertise, folks.
A couple weeks ago in the Clarence Strait north of Ketchikan I hit a log with my 1991 Ericson E-34 and suddenly lost the ability to do anything but turn left. I climbed down the swim ladder to discover that the rudder had been bent aft just enough to jam against the bit of the hull that protrudes downward to meet the top of it. The attached pic is of another boat and is there just to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. This bad luck was quickly followed by some good when a tender came to my rescue. We used its crane to lift my stern out of the water far enough to use an air tool to grind down the top of the rudder, freeing it to rotate left and right, allowing us to limp on to our destination.
So now I sit in Juneau with a helm that turns freely to the left but then becomes very stiff when the rudder passes the midline for a right turn.
I'm guessing that there'll be two parts to this fix.
1. Dropping the rudder out the bottom and straightening...what is it called?...the rudder tube. So how do I remove the rudder? And how would I straighten the tube?
2. Replacing the layer of fiberglass that I ground off the top of it to keep water out of it.
And, while I'm working on it, is there anything I can install to reduce the likelihood of this happening again or, if it does, a way to deal with it that does not depend on having at my disposal a 90 foot tender with a full mechanical shop on board?
Thanks in advance!
Ed
"Kinnaree"
'91 E-34
A couple weeks ago in the Clarence Strait north of Ketchikan I hit a log with my 1991 Ericson E-34 and suddenly lost the ability to do anything but turn left. I climbed down the swim ladder to discover that the rudder had been bent aft just enough to jam against the bit of the hull that protrudes downward to meet the top of it. The attached pic is of another boat and is there just to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. This bad luck was quickly followed by some good when a tender came to my rescue. We used its crane to lift my stern out of the water far enough to use an air tool to grind down the top of the rudder, freeing it to rotate left and right, allowing us to limp on to our destination.
So now I sit in Juneau with a helm that turns freely to the left but then becomes very stiff when the rudder passes the midline for a right turn.
I'm guessing that there'll be two parts to this fix.
1. Dropping the rudder out the bottom and straightening...what is it called?...the rudder tube. So how do I remove the rudder? And how would I straighten the tube?
2. Replacing the layer of fiberglass that I ground off the top of it to keep water out of it.
And, while I'm working on it, is there anything I can install to reduce the likelihood of this happening again or, if it does, a way to deal with it that does not depend on having at my disposal a 90 foot tender with a full mechanical shop on board?
Thanks in advance!
Ed
"Kinnaree"
'91 E-34
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