This warm season provided some time for work on our refit, and also gave us some great sailing weather for our new family picnic vessel, a 16′ Wayfarer.

It was discovered in the early spring that a bronze bushing had been used in the rudder tube. This started a galvanic reaction eating at the rudder tube and rudder stock. Ultrasound picked up the thinning, the rudder was impossible to swing. Complete removal and replacement was necessary, and was completed with modern materials. The job was well within our means but a huge job to add to an already long list

I managed to complete the installation of a fuel fill, water fill setup inside the cockpit which will make for easy jerry-canning underway. The fills rest under what will be the new cockpit seat tops of wood slats on a stainless frame. A complete weld-out of the cockpit was under taken including installation of all fabricated hatches, cockpit sole replating harness tie-off points and installation of mainsheet horses, bilge pump outlet plate and last but certainly not least the rudder tube/rudder heel and new welded self steering mounts.

The rudder tube alignment was critical given that the heel must align with the entire rudder tube, piercing both the hull beneath the waterline and the deck just inward of the transom. The total length of aligned bearings was over 10 feet. The tube it’s self is 2 1/2″ sch 40 pipe, passed through hull and deck with doubler plates and multiple struts  to deck and hull. It took an amazing amount of fussing around to have dead straight but it’s good now. The heel and the upper rudder tube have UHMW polyethylene bearings which i have already turned with a complete spare set as well