Hey all:
After my second sailing of the season (and second trip with my new used DS) I noticed the rudder had water sloshing around inside. Hmmm, I thought, this can't be correct. Upon inspection I saw that the rear edge of the rudder was abraded for an area about 3-4" long, and the plywood/glass seam was separated a bit, about 1/16". Not much, but enough to let water into the hollow interior.
Without putting the rudder and outboard back on the boat to check, I'm fairly certain that this problem is due to the rudder occassionally hitting up against the outboard prop. I can fix that, or at least be aware of it now, but here's my question...
I drained the water from the rudder, and am letting it dry before I seal it up with epoxy and maybe put a little cloth patch on it. How long should I let it dry? I can't tell how damp it may still be inside. We're having some record-setting high temps here (85-90) so I'm thinking three days, as much of it in the sun as possible, might do it. I've never worked with something like a big, dense heavy rudder before, that's full of plywood and fiberglass, so I don't really know if that's sufficient.
Any ideas as to a good drying time for this thing? Would it help to force some moving air into it?
I've thought of another option - drilling a couple of maybe 1/2" holes elsewhere in the rudder to help dry it, maybe via the forced-air method - then when the abraded edge region has been repaired, let it dry more - I won't be sailing for another two weeks - then plug those holes up before I get in the water again.
Suggestions?
Thanks much in advance. This is a great forum for having an older sailboat.
Carlos