Water up through the tiller post

[jaschrumpf]

When I have my 1975 Capitol Yachts Newport 28 under power, a bit of water comes up through the tiller post gasket and runs back out through the cockpit drains. It's never a lot of water and it stops immediately when the engine is turned off. When I looked into the engine compartment I saw the tiller post is completely enclosed in a fiberglass column from the hull up to the deck, and there is never any water in the engine compartment during this time.

I'm guessing that the pressure of the water off the prop is somehow rising up the face of the rudder and entering the fiberglass column and then up to the deck and out the drains.

From looking at where the tiller enters the deck it looks like I could take off the bezel, or bracket, that surrounds the tiller post and probably reseat it with marine caulk. Does this sound like a reasonable solution? Does anyone see a problem with the water coming up the post in the first place?

[Raggbagger]

Well , before you go dissmanteling anything I would plan on replacement parts for the rudder system . What comes to mind is bushings and or bearings
and whatever else they tell you your going to need .

The other thing is , before you do anything with a rudder is make sure you can support its weight either from the cockpit or below the rudder itself (have to use your imagination on that one) .

One final thought would be " should this be done on the hard ?"


Ive had something similar happen to me on an Islander Bahama 24 , but it wasnt something I fixed before the boat was eventually sold , boy I miss that little boat , had more fun on that pocket cruiser than I have on many its rivals , oh yeah , thats another thread


Best of luck with your project dont forget duct-tape and 5200 are the answer to every technological cunundrum regardless of esthetics

[TrueBlue]

Have no idea how a Newport rudder post is set up, but could there possibly be a way of injecting grease into the shaft bearing, perhaps via a zerk fitting?

Our last boat required that this be done every few weeks, to hold back sea water - worked very well. Otherwise, when running under power the stern would heel down, forcing water up the rudder post tube.

[Omatako]

Originally Posted by jaschrumpf

From looking at where the tiller enters the deck it looks like I could take off the bezel, or bracket, that surrounds the tiller post and probably reseat it with marine caulk.

I know nothing about the vessel's design but the "bezel" of which you speak of sounds like just a flat plate screwed to the deck?

If it is, any caulk stuffed down the shaft tube will just end up migrating down the tube with little real effect. If more is put in after the first lot, it will almost certainly make the helm heavier.

If it's really important to stop the water coming up, try to modify the bezel to carry an oil seal of some sort.

Andre

[Boasun]

It should be a standard stuffing tube packing gland with gasket material inserted at the top, similar to the stuffing tube that you propeller shaft runs through. If made properly there would be a Babbitt bearing at the top and the bottom. With the packing gland just above the top one. And a thrust bearing is above the packing gland a couple of inches for the rudder post to hang from if you have a spade rudder. All of this comes in all the various designs as there are leaves on a tree. The rudder post should have a screw hole at the top for an eye-bolt so you can hang the rudder from it as you change out the top thrust bearing. The packing gland should be reasonably accessible for repacking. But then some builders seem to think that we have very tiny elves on board to do all of the maintenance on the boat.

I have changed out a few packing glands on the shaft and the rubber posts. The packing gland should be greased thoroughly and do a weekly PM on it when doing heavy sailing. And expect to get very greasy when doing such maintenance.


PM = Preventive Maintenance

[jaschrumpf]

Nothing's ever simple, is it? Well, I've got the manual for the boat, so maybe there are enough diagrams in there for me to figure out what to do. Sounds like a job for when I've got her up on the hard repainting the bottom.

Like I said, it's not much water -- a mere trickle -- and since it always stops when the engine is shut off it's not a problem.

I'll go dig out the manual and see what it says. Thanks for all the advice.

[Faster]

I like TB's idea of a grease fitting on the tube and periodic application of a waterproof grease to slow the water down.

Since the tube is sealed top and bottom, there's no danger here, only the inconvenience of a wet cockpit sole.

That said, if the rudder stock has some extra play, then new bushings would fix that, and the reduced clearance would probably slow the water down too. I wouldn't be squeezing any sealant down there I don't think.

Does it only happen under power? What about if you're sailing fast?

[Fstbttms]

Originally Posted by jaschrumpf

Does anyone see a problem with the water coming up the post in the first place?

This is a common phenomenon in the Pearson Triton and scared the hell out of me when I first noticed it on mine. After talking to other Triton owners I just stopped worrying about it and never attempted any kind of fix.

[jaschrumpf]

Originally Posted by Faster

I like TB's idea of a grease fitting on the tube and periodic application of a waterproof grease to slow the water down.

Since the tube is sealed top and bottom, there's no danger here, only the inconvenience of a wet cockpit sole.

That said, if the rudder stock has some extra play, then new bushings would fix that, and the reduced clearance would probably slow the water down too. I wouldn't be squeezing any sealant down there I don't think.

Does it only happen under power? What about if you're sailing fast?

The only time this year I was what you might call "sailing fast" (double-reefed in 20-25 kt winds) the water came in through my cockpit drains and backed up a bit in the cockpit. That was kind of an interesting experience. The water definitely wasn't coming up through the tiller post, but from the drains, and it made a bit of a standing pool in the stern of the cockpit. The PO said he'd noticed this when sailing fast, so I didn't worry about it, and sure enough when we slowed up a bit they drained right out again. I've heard that some owners of the Newport 28 put in larger drains, so it seems like this is a not-unheard of problem.