Association Forum - Ok, we've had a change of plans...

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Ok, we've had a change of plans...

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
1234 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/15/2003 : 17:15:54

Remember I was going to repair my rudder that had its seem split all the way around? I talked to my wife about it, and she recommended simply buying a new, balanced rudder. So that's what I did. I called Catlina Direct and ordered one.

The nice lady I spoke with on the phone, however, said that with my boat, hull # 5553, the stock balanced rudder wouldn't fit properly, and she sent me the rudder blade only, without the pintles. She said I can use the pintles from my old rudder, and that all I have to do is line up the pintles on the new rudder against the old rudder to make sure the placement is correct. Then I drill the holes for the bolts, tap them, and then install the pintles. Sounds simple.

She sent me the proper sized drill bit, the tap, and the bolts. Has anyone done this before? And if so, what does "tap" mean. I am by no means very handy with tools, and I've never heard the term before. The lady on the phone said the tap is a drill bit that puts threads into whatever you drill it into. To me, however, when I put the tap bit into my drill and engage the drill, the bit will be rotating so fast that it will chew up the pilot hole. Do I need a drill that can be engaged at a very slow speed?

Maybe I'm not understanding what the CD rep explained to me. Also, will I have to paint the rudder?

Thanks all,

Ben
Adventurous
#5553
C25 SR/SK

Edited by - on

John J.
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
157 Posts

Response Posted - 02/15/2003 : 18:30:32

Ben, you don't want to use the drill to tap threads. Go to a hardware store and pick up a tapping chuck and put the threads in slowly by hand, rotating one full turn, then reverse for a half turn, then clockwise again for a full turn , and so on. Ask the clerkif you have questions, it's quite simple.

Edited by - john j. on 02/15/2003 18:35:20

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 02/15/2003 : 18:42:59

My pintles are thru-bolted to the rudder and not tapped and screwed.

Don Lucier, 'North Star'
C25 SR/FK
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cc32b3127cce92e981259d130000001010" border=0>
Cradled on the hard, 200ft from Lake Erie

Edited by - on

eric.werkowitz
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
283 Posts

Response Posted - 02/15/2003 : 19:35:49

Ben,

I think you should drill through the rudder and use through bolts as Don noted his (and my) pintles are installed. After you insure the bolt hole are drilled in the right place, drill the holes several sizes too large for the bolts (1/4"?). Put some puddy or tape over one side of the holes, flip the rudder over and pour the holes full of mixed epoxy. After the epoxy cures, redrill the holes for the proper size bolts. Bed them with some polysulphide caulk and "Bob's your uncle" as the Brits say. This will keep water from creeping under the fiberglass by sealing the route through the foam core.

When you are measuring for the bolt locations remember that the new rudder has to clear the skeg since the leading edge of the rudder is ahead of the back of the skeg. Mine has about an inch of clearance, but no more. If you hook a tape measure on the back edge of the skeg and measure to the top edge of the lower gudgeon and add 1 inch that should establish the right height for the lower pintle relative to the "step" in the rudder's leading edge. From there add the distance between the gudgeons to set the location for the upper pintle. If you don't get this spacing exactly right and you see only one pintle riding on its gudgeon, use some thin nylon and or stainless washers from Ace Hardware to adjust until both gudgeons are sharing the load.

By the way, have you inspected the gudgeons lately? Might be a good time to back them up if it hasn't been done yet.

Eric Werkowitz
C25 #4969

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 02/15/2003 : 21:15:09

I agree with Eric's approach--I also drilled oversized holes, filled with epoxy, and then redrilled for the bolts. I did not tap the holes, and don't really know why that's necessary. The threads don't hold the bolt in--the nut does.

The toughest part for me was drilling holes that lined up with the pintle strap holes on both sides. After the overdrilling and filling, I drilled tiny pilot holes to check the alignment, then adjusted the direction slightly with a slightly larger hole, then finally drilled the full diameter of the bolt. If anybody has a better method, tell Ben about it. (It's too late for me.) <img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>

I also bought new pintles from CD (the originals were worn) and found that the straps were too close together for the thickness of the rudder. I couldn't figure out how to spread them and keep them parallel, so I had a rigger put them in a jig that bowed the straps slightly to get the right width. Those are tough, heavy pieces of stainless--strong enough to crack the rudder blade if the width isn't right.

The lower step on my rudder is more than an inch below the skeg (but I don't remember exactly how much). I positioned the pintles so the tiller would clear the transom cutout by less than an inch, which is probably lower than Eric's. That gives more clearance below the traveler, which allows the tiller to tip upward further. The reason the stock pintle placement isn't correct is that the newer C-25 for which the rudder was made doesn't have the cutout in the transom, and its traveler is integral to the sternrail.

I also took the opportunity to replace the lower gudgeon, since it was worn somewhat when I bought the boat. If you replace gudgeons, I recommend against the heavy-duty ones--the sleeves make pintle alignment extremely critical, and since the balanced rudder actually tries to float out of the gudgeons, you don't need much vertical strength.

I also use a couple of fender washers to adjust the pintles on the gudgeons, but also a stack of them above the cotter pin on the upper pintle to keep the rudder from floating up.

It all sounds complicated, but after you get through it, the balanced rudder is great!

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette-Honda "Passage" in SW CT

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 02/15/2003 21:22:21

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.