The Rudder Bearing remedy 36 7.245N 5 26.110W
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Thu 12 Dec 2019 14:59
Back in 2009, at a formative stage in our quest to create a fully dry Sigma 38, the bearing mounting had been identified as the culprit that had caused a few damp clothes at successive Cowes Weeks. The bearing is bolted through the hull in the aft locker and in our case, the hull in the area of the bearing mounting had been “strengthened” by the inclusion of a wooden block in the original layup, which had become damp, therefore soft, which meant that the four large bolts holding it down were no longer tight. This was all discovered one evening when George, James and Derek from Yachting Sports in Hamble came out sailing and we put P through a series of manoeuvres to finally find where the water was coming from.
The result was some surgery to remove the bearing, the remainder of the wood block and rebuild the bearing mount in the hull with in modern epoxy. That operation was a complete success....until April 2018, since when a small but consistent and therefore irritating leak has developed. But its worth bearing in mind that since then, Persephone has racked up some miles, with 3 Fastnet campaigns and 4 Atlantic crossings!
The irritation was one thing, and in coastal waters, one could argue that we could put up with it, but another factor seemed certain; it would not get any better, and likely get worse. Which you don’t want when short handed and far from land.
The bearing is mounted through the hull on a bed of strong sealant, and the fact that water was getting past the sealant was testament to the idea that the sealant bond had broken, probably through slight movement of the bronze bearing housing itself. So there was nothing for it but to haul Persephone out, remove the rudder and dismantle the bearing.
For this, Eric suggested we cross the bay to a yard at Algeciras. This was less expensive than La Linea, and we could stay on board during our stay in the yard. So we motored the 4 miles or so on a very calm afternoon and after a late tapas lunch, hauled out at 4 in the afternoon.
I soon dismantled the steering and the next day, Eric and I lowered the rudder, and within about an hour, had removed the bearing. We used a section of pipe and a threaded scaffold pole to gently push the spigot of the bearing into the boat, and it came out deceptively easily. The seal had indeed been breached and the underside of the bearing was slightly corroded where the bronze had been in contact with sea water. It seemed too, that some flowcoated gelcoat had been painted in the hole through which the bearing passes and this had come unstuck as well. But structurally, there was nothing wrong.
So I cleaned up the bearing, and we dried out the whole area for 18 hours before reassembling everything with fresh sealant. I renewed the fairing over the bolts on the underside, and repaired the antifouling, cleaned the top of the rudder and re antifouled this difficult to get at surface, before we raised the rudder back into the boat and reconnected the steering and autopilot quadrants.
The rudder is very heavy, so to remove and refit it, we drilled and tapped a hole in the top of the stock so that an eye bolt could be screwed in and then used a block and tackle suspended from the backstay, plus the primary winches, to lower and then raise the rudder from and to the boat.
5 days after hauling out, we were back in the water with a fully watertight, and very smooth rudder bearing, enjoying a night at anchor outside the marina at Alcaidesa once more.
Great success!
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