Category Archives: Repairs

Rudder Rebuild: The Shaft Part I

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As you might recall, we lost a rudder while at sea crossing from Minerva Reef to Tonga – it was an utter rudder disaster.  We managed ok for over 1,000nm with just one rudder before we were able to get our hands on a temproary rudder which we then had custom fit to our boat.

But it is time to replace both rudders now that we are in New Zealand and the boat is hauled out.  We researched many different options including having Jefa Rudders custom design them from the UK; a boat builder in Auckland, NZ;  Foss Boatbuilders in Los Angeles; and considered having Norsand Boatyard do the work. There were pros and cons with each company, so we decided to hire local professionals that we had first hand knowledge of their expertise and skills.  They had already worked on our boat and had years of glassing experience.

The Rudder Shaft

The first thing we have to do is design and build the rudder shafts (or posts).  Technically, both of our rudder shafts are “in tact” but the tines or fingers on the port shaft are damaged.  At the top of the shaft you will see a ring and one tine sticking out.  This is the front of tine and there is supposed to be a back.  The middle tine is broken half way in the front and has no back portion and the bottom tine is completely gone.

Damaged Rudder Shaft with broken tines

Damaged Rudder Shaft with broken tines

We engaged our friend Rob at RH Precision while we were still in Tonga.  We love Rob!  He has done several stainless projects for us and is just a gem to work with!  He has all of the fun tools and machines for welding stainless and aluminum.  Matt finds the dimensions and all of the measurements to our existing rudder shafts (thanx to the Catana Mailing Group and several other Catana owners who shared their specifications).  

We triple check all of the measurements with our existing rudder shafts (both the damaged one and the one that is still in tact).  And then we double check them again.  Matt specifically orders 6082 aluminum (from High Grade Metals in NZ) which is stronger than our original lighter aluminum.  Rob works his magic and expertly replicates our rudder shafts as per the diagram.

Bigger is Better

Rob then drills the holes. There are 4 holes near the top which is how we connect the post to the boat and 4 holes for the tines.  We decided to go with 16mm tines which are bigger and stronger than our current 14mm tines.

I assumed Rob would be able to do the tines as well, but I was wrong.  We had to get the rods for the tines…hmmm.  Rob sends us to Vulcan Ullrich Aluminium in Whangarei where we are able to purchase a 5m of 16mm rod.  We have them cut it into (8) 280mm pieces and we take the almost 4m of extra rod back to Rob as a gift.

The Final Steps

Rob pounds the 8 pieces into each hole for us and then we take it to Absolute Stainless to tack them in place so they wont move (tack weld).  Yep, this is a process.  It doesn’t take long to tack weld them as we were able to pick them up the next morning.  The next step is to have the rudder shafts anodized.  So, we drive them to Auckland (2.5hrs each way) to Alert Anodising where they will put 25 micron hard black to protect them.  We had wanted marine grade but evidently there was a mix up. Rob assured us it would be fine and that this was still very good.

10 days later we make the drive back to Auckland to pick up our newly anodized rudder posts.  

The shafts look so sexy!  I am not sure why I think they look sexy with the anodizing, but I do!  We laid the new shaft next to the old shaft and what a difference.  The new shafts are about 27cm longer and weigh almost 1 kilo more than the older shafts.  Compare the damaged shaft to the new one on the right photo.

Now we are ready for the blades.  Stay tuned for part II of the Rudder Rebuild.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured during November 2023.  

The Low Down on Coppercoat Antifouling: Part II

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In our last blog post we started the process of preparing our boat for new antifouling.  We typically used paint, but technology has changed and the better choice for protecting your boat’s bottom is coppercoat.  We ran into some problems and the original blog post grew too long so we broke it up into a few posts.  Here is part II.

Coppercoat

We ordered the coppercoat directly from the NZ coppercoat contact.  We ended up ordering 20 one liter kits which contain part A and B and the copper) and an additional (2) one liter cans for us (for any future repairs).  The reason we orderd one liter cans is because the coppercoat has a very specific application process and ordering it in larger quantities like 10L or 20L cans makes it very difficult for the team to apply it fast enough before it sets. You only get about 20-30 minutes to apply while constantly stirring your paint tin.

First the team, and yes, I mean “team” as 5 Norsand guys bring the supplies.  They set up a make shift table to lay everything out.  The 20 kits (each has 3 parts), 15 buckets, 15 paint trays, 15 rollers, 5 small rollers, tons of rags, turps, and gloves.  So much plastic.  The Coppercoat sets so quickly that they cannot reuse the buckets, trays, or rollers for more than a few coats.  Everything moves at warped speed.

The preparations continue as the team (Aaron, Josh, Conor, Ian, Luke) tape off our saildrives, rudder bearings, transducers and other vital parts that can’t be covered in coppercoat and need protection.

The Application

The boat is washed down with ISO to remove all dust particles and then the magic begins.

Our chemist, Josh begins the mixing process.  He is dedicated to mixing each kit and keeping the painter’s trays mixed so the Coppercoat doesn’t set too quickly. Aaron (far left) is the yard manager and is supervising before starting the painting process.

The 5 guys work straight through lunch for over 5 hours applying 5+ coats, evenly, consistently, and professionally along our hulls.  It was exhausting work but they powered through and completed the job!  We were so pleased that we had a little happy hour celebration under the boat.

The first coat (top), the 3rd coat (middle) and the final coat (still wet).

I must be honest, I am not a fan of the color (copper) but I am even less pleased with what the color will look like once it spends 4-6 months in the salt water and oxidizes. And this is the permanent color for the next 10 years.  These are not our boats (obviously), but it will give you an idea of what Coppercoat looks like once it has oxidized in the ocean.

Prop Speed

The coppercoat sets as we are finishing up a few other boat projects.  One of the final projects is preparing the saildrives and props.  We sand them down, apply a barrier coat to the sail drives (the white paint), sand down the props one more time. Then it is time to apply prop speed which helps prevent growth and corrosion on the sail drives and props.  The bright yellow sure clashes with our copper bottom – oh well.

Activating the Coppercoat

It seems so wrong, but this is the process.  The yard comes in a few days before we splash to burnish (sand down) our beautifully painted Coppercoat.   Jamie uses 320 grit sand paper to activate the copper – but it was really hard to watch them burnish the new bottom job.

And that is the Coppercoat process.

Did you miss Part I of “The Low Down on Coppercoat Antifouling?”  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post started in early November and finished around the end of November.

Bare Bones: A Dirty Job

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Time to get the boat ready for many projects which means taking her back to the bare bones which is a very dirty job.

Preparing Our Bottom

The first thing we did was pressure wash or waterblast the bottom of the boat.  This knocks off the first layer of muck that might have accumulated since our last cleaning.  Then the sanding begins and this is a dirty job!

Norsand Boatyard assigned Jamie, a 19 year old laborer to the task.  He worked very hard removing our bottom paint over 4.5 days. Lucky for him we only had 2 layers of bottom paint and then the primer to remove.  Had we done this 3 years ago he would have had to get through 20 years of bottom paint, layered over and over itself.  It takes Jamie about one full day to do half of the hull.

Jamie sands the top layer of black, then blue, then the army green barrier coat to get to the white/grey shown below.

Not a Good Sign

Two years ago we sanded down the bottom to the original barrier coat.  However, this time we sanded down further.  We have never sanded down this far and several things shocked and dismayed us!  

The first thing we discovered was that we have a few small areas on each bow with osmosis!  Basically water engress which is never a good thing.  We will certainly have to address this and repair it before we apply the new primer for the coppercoat.

Repairs to the Bones

In order to properly fix the osmosis areas Ben comes in to grind the fiberglass back to a healthy state.  I absolutely hated to see him grind out the fiberglass, but it is what you have to do. 

Ben grinds out every spot, hairline crack, and problem area.  Then meticulously fills them, sands them, and fills and sands them again.  Because our boat was made with vinyl luster that is what he used to fill all the areas in (as opposed to epoxy).

Filler is added to all of the areas and then sanded down.  In some instances he had to go back multiple times to add more filler in order to get the proper results.

Losing Our Minds

For the past 13 years Matt and I have been baffled by the starboard waterline.  For some reason, the waterline on the inside of the starboard hull was always lower which would indicate there is too much weight on that side of the boat.  So, we were constantly moving things to the center of the boat or to the port side to raise the water line.  

Little did we know that the boat was not unevenly weighted down.  The waterline was way off!  In fact it was 3-4″ shorter than its sister side!  What the heck?  So we borrow a digital laser level from the yard.  Matt sets it up where the front of the bow and that back of the boat are even and then draws a line between the two.

It is rather remarkable how uneven both sides are.  We think the original owner used a string and when pulled tight dips in the center.  This would explain how the bow and the stern were even but the center dips into a low “U.”  The bottom two photos show you the exact same spot on port and starboard — see the difference?

The good news is it can easily be fixed.  We will mark the new waterline and sand the gelcoat to match the bottom.

Removing the Daggerboards

In the 13 years that we have owned Sugar Shack we have never removed our dagger boards.  We love to use them, but why remove them?  Well for one thing they are stupid expensive, like $8000 euro each!  But we needed to sand off the bottom paint and apply our coppercoat – so out they came.

We used the spin halyard to hoist them and with Matt on the ground and me on the wench we slowly got each board to the ground.  These suckers are HEAVY and huge!  They measured 15′ tall.

If you dig deep enough you will find more problems.  We found a few issues with the dagger board casings.  We stuck our faces below the hole and looked up and to our surprise we found osmosis inside.  Unfortunately there is not much we can do as it is a very tiny and narrow space prohibiting tools from getting up in there.  We do make small repairs at the opening (right photo) as far up as we can go.

On the port rudder shaft there are two small repairs that we have to make. One is a crack at the opening of the casing (top photo) and the other is a bubble that sticks out enough to mark the shaft.

In upcoming blog posts we strip all of the graphics (stripes, logos, designs) off the boat.  The cover photo is when Sugar Shack is truly bare bones.

Frankly, I am surprised at all that we found once we took our boat down to the bare bones.  It was a truly dirty job in my ways than one, but certainly worth it to get her back to tip top shape.  Now we are ready to being the coppercoat process.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  The events in this blog post occured in early November.  In our last blog we share what Life is Like on the Hard.