X-ray rudder ?

[Sven]

We will probably have the larger King-designed rudder fabricated and installed on Senta-II, so this is a curiosity question more than a need-an-answer question.

Jessica Watson just had her rudder x-rayed as part of the refit before she tackles the youngest single-handed circumnavigation record. The result was:

the rudder shaft was badly corroded with a fracture in the weld and just to top it off, it was full of close to 5L of sea water

I'm just curious how expensive it is to have such x-raying done and how many of you may have done it to check out the condition of our 20-30-40 year old boats ?

( Her blog is at http://youngestround.blogspot.com/ )



-Sven

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

A preliminary sounding with a hammer should tell you if there is any delam or moisture. A moisture meter will also yield good info. If moisture and delamination are found you can pretty much bet you will have crevice corrosion. Stainless steel in contact with water in an area deprived of oxygen will yield crevice corrosion. However the margin of safety built in the Ericson rudders means the likelihood of an actual failure is pretty low unless the rudder is in really bad shape. X-ray could be done but my guess is it would be expensive and at this age you can pretty much guarantee you will find some moisture, some corrosionn, and possibly some cracks. Do you need to lose sleep over it? Probably not unless you are headed far offshore.