Tell Me About My Rudder Setup

Crawled back a few feet into the lazzerette to study the rudder stock.

There appears to be a large-ish metal box that is bolted to a couple-inch thick pad made flat against the deadrise of the hull which the rudder stock sticks up through...

Is there a packing gland somewhere?

Is the inside of the box filled with seawater?

Is the top of the box at about the waterline eliminating the need for a packing gland?

Is there a technical drawing of such a rudder arrangement?

Information would be appreciated...

My packing is under the box.

The back is cut out for access.

Appreciate the heads-up.

Should have looked at the box from the aft too. Will do so at the first opportunity.

Bet that box supports the weight of the shaft and rudder. No real weight on that little skeg at the bottom of the rudder.

I'm learning.

exterior looks exactly like my boat

Back at Satori today. Went back in for pictures from the back side of "the box".

Obviously its not a box... more like a shell.

And it looks it's age... 30 years sitting back there year after year with no complaints but no maintenance.

Since it's such a fundamental component and can't easily be removed - it's not getting any service until a 2017 haulout.

Bummer. Wish I could Samantha twitch it back to new.

CarlinLA said:

Back at Satori today. Went back in for pictures from the back side of "the box".

Obviously its not a box... more like a shell.

And it looks it's age... 30 years sitting back there year after year with no complaints but no maintenance.

Since it's such a fundamental component and can't easily be removed - it's not getting any service until a 2017 haulout.

Bummer. Wish I could Samantha twitch it back to new.

Click to expand...

Looks similar to mine. I had it "Samantha-twitched" back to new in Mexico this year for $650. Great deal. Salt was starting to accumulate around the packing, which told me it was starting to fail. It probably could've just been a packing replacement, but I figured since I only have one rudder, might as well re-build the whole thing. They built me a new bracket out of stainless, re-machined the rudder post for smoother operation, and re-packed the seal.

Before:

After:

One of the major design (or build) flaws in my boat is the inability to replace rudder shaft packing without a partial disassembly. Apparently that kept the PO from maintaining them. I'm considering gore packing on my rudder shafts in the hope I'll never face this again.

VicTrawler said:

Looks similar to mine. I had it "Samantha-twitched" back to new in Mexico this year for $650. Great deal. Salt was starting to accumulate around the packing, which told me it was starting to fail. It probably could've just been a packing replacement, but I figured since I only have one rudder, might as well re-build the whole thing. They built me a new bracket out of stainless, re-machined the rudder post for smoother operation, and re-packed the seal.

Before:

After:

Click to expand...

Vic... looking good... at the risk of thread drift... how did you and your 36 foot trawler find yourself in Mexico last year?

angus99 said:

One of the major design (or build) flaws in my boat is the inability to replace rudder shaft packing without a partial disassembly. Apparently that kept the PO from maintaining them. I'm considering gore packing on my rudder shafts in the hope I'll never face this again.

Click to expand...

Angus - there should be an award for the most heroic retrofit and you desearve it... before picture is shocking and after picture is encourging.