Skeg Crack 38 Apologies, Billyon again Lars_
We removed antifoul and found crack and rust stained deposits as per photo.
My excellent hull man commented thus:
'Stbd side of rudder skeg has a horizontal fracture in the surface of the
paint and probably the filler underneath.
It is about 30cms up from the bottom tip of the skeg and about 8cms long;
extending round the leading face of the skeg and just starting to show
itself on the portside as well. If the rudder is hung with an internal rod
laminated at the
leading end providing a strong pintle for the bearings (gudgeon) to clamp
round, then such a strong structure
will mean the skeg fracture is only on the bottom bit of the skeg which is
only a faired extension and of minimal structural concern. However, if there
is no internal full length rod in the skeg supporting the pintle, the unit
would be worth
investigating further. There is load at the bottom bearing (pintle and
gudgeon)..and no doubt Swans are
built well.
Secondly there is staining on the port side where the gudgeon and pintle
make contact. The rust coloured stain
needs to be explained. The
port stain may be due to moisture
leaking from a waterlogged rudder...as all rudders are wet and seldom
guaranteed to remain dry even after a
rebuild with epoxy!"
We had a similar crack on the rudder, which required filling and has been fine since.
Is this likely to be a weakness, or simple case of filling and epoxy?
Thankyou again
Alasdair
Dear Alasdair
Thank you for your message.
Pls see the photos in the maintenance thread dated 7th Sept. 2009. Your rudder construction is very similar with a bronze heel piece at the GRP skeg lower end.
Suggest you remove the fairing pieces each side of the skeg aft edge, suspect they are rusting in this case. You find their screws under the filler.
Kind regards
Lars
I bought my Swan 37 in 1986 with similar cracks and the broker said it would need a new rudder. After talking to Nautor I learned that the rudder and skeg was very strong, and it was just cracks in the filler over the fittings. These were checked and the filler re done and it was perfect and never gave any trouble in the future. Gavin
