I bought Cellany, a Snapdragon 26, in May 2004 and had the usual (compulsory but necessary) survey. I used the same surveyor who had done the last one for the current owner. Nothing untoward was found. Just the usual wear and tear things, it seemed to me. This is my first boat and a dream I have had for many years. At the age of 60 it was time to do it before the Skipper reeled me in. We only went to the marina for a sandwich but i’m told that’s how it happens — it seemed a good idea at the time. I’m still hoping it will be.
I have only ever sailed with friends before so I need experienced crew. My wife soon decided that trying to handle ropes and poles in windy conditions in a marina was not her idea of fun. We had two bad experiences being blown across the marina and once clattered backwards heavily into the far pontoon. Hence I went out next with a very experienced friend who waggled my tiller and pronounced it had too much play. I had found there to be a lag before it ‘bit’ and felt floppy, but thought this was how things were, especially with a boat built in I 968. A bit of play was to be expected.
We took off the tiller nut, found no play at the top end, so it was a job for the next time it came out of the water. It couldn’t be a serious problem, could it? I’d had the boat surveyed and the report stated the tiller had been lashed and the rudder swung hard and was found to have no play. I did not take the boat out until October and had only been out about five times due to work, weather, tides etc. The usual high cost per use that many owners have! I began to worry about it and called the surveyor the day I was going on holiday to ask him to re-inspect. My return was bad news. “You cannot sail this boat, it is dangerous!” 
I squeaked “But you only saw it last year and it hasn’t been anywhere”.
He said it was ok then but maybe it has had a knock or something. Now I should admit that I too am a surveyor of houses and know all about surveyors, insurance claims and limits of inspections. Many surveyors are ultra cautious especially when asked a direct question. They can never be sued if they say ”mend it”. I also remembered our banging about the marina, and thought Well, it's possible. Also difficult to prove either way. A new rudder could cost £500 or so. Lot of money but not critical.
I also lashed up the tiller and tried the rudder, which I could certainly move from side to side about 6 inches, but was this a problem? Lashing a tiller is a tricky thing to a novice like me. I wasn’t sure that my patent knots and tensioning system was 100% effective and managed to convince myself that it was OK. Who wants the cost or the time out of the water?
I should explain that I was by this time scraping Cellany's bottom clean. When I bought her I got my first shock when I realised you are supposed to paint the bottom EVERY year and as it was out for the survey it had to he done. More came off than went on, proving the surveyor right about a build up of antifoul. Next time I would have a ‘man’ take it off for me. So. I got the quote for stripping off the old antifoul and went out and bought myself overalls, mask and 2 scrapers. Quite fun in masochistic sort of way. Well, I’ve paid for it so at least I should use it even if out of the water.
The weekends came and went and I kept looking at the rudder and the (now) slightly loose key block at the top and a nagging thought would not go away. I was a novice sailor but had done a lot of reading and had come to several important conclusions.. A the top of this list was this fact : A rudder is a pretty fundamental hit of kit.
The strings can break, the stick can fall down and the sails can shred hut the motor will get you home but only if the rudder hasn’t fallen off.
I wasn’t too concerned about the key having talked to Mike our Technical guru, and found it was designed to be knocked out to get the rudder off, but was concerned about water getting in and possibly causing corrosion. What to do? By this time it's March — yes I know I should have done all this in October, but I had just moved house and other things are important and I still work full time.
I discovered a friend of a friend works at a well known marine engineers and offered to come and give an opinion. He waggled and pronounced it no worse than many others he had seen. Now I’m not sure exactly what that meant but he seemed happy to leave it until the end of the season when it could be looked at more leisurely. I was sure I could see the rudder rotating slightly on the stock
|
but was told you always get some movement in old rudders as the tangs (the metal fingers inside the rudder) wear a little gap in the fibreglass. I asked Mike about this and he was concerned. “How much movement?” he asked, in that tone that says “your answer could change your whole way of life and anyone else’s within a two mile radius”. "Oh," I said, “only about 5 degrees”, hoping there would he a sigh of relief. I did not actually hear a gasp, but the answer was obviously not acceptable.
I continued to scrape and worry.
Repairs would take 6 weeks, said one man, as he was so busy. “Everyone leaves things too late”. This would take me into May/June and I was desperate to use the boat this year. Eventually worry and the No.1 fundamental rule of sailing took over and I called in a man recommended by Titchmarsh marina. He was very thorough and when he had the rudder off and split it apart I was very glad to have made the decision.
As the photos show, a previous owner had rebuilt the rudder BUT there was only 1 tang left, with the second one having broken off at some time before the last owner and not replaced when rebuilding! This must have been done before selling as I wouldn’t trust it with only one. She has been out in force 8, I am told, and performed well, but there must come a time......
THE ESTIMATE: A rebuild in fibreglass, welding new tang plus other bits - £800. Remake in stainless steel about £600 +. So I went for the solid look. Then the shaft was found to be too corroded to weld and was also bent at the top so a new shaft was needed and machining to fit the taper of the tiller and a new top “bearing “ was made to tighten everything up. There is no actual bearing at the top of the tube but what we thought was a glassed in skin fitting turned out to just pop out (no guarantee yours will).
THE COST: £1200 in total, plus the dockside lift to drop out the rudder. It feels much better but have only been out once since it was done. It has taken away a nagging worry that my first sailing buddy left me with, and on the first trip out I had to pull on the tiller very hard at times which I did with confidence.
Now about that funny noise in the engine....
|
