[CalebD]

Looks pretty good Guillermo.

You mentioned that your new rudder seemed more buoyant than the original. There may be some hunks of metal in the lower core of the original that helps keep it more at neutral buoyancy. Maybe not. Maybe they just coated the core with a thicker covering of resin.

Did you use any glass cloth to cover your plywood core with the epoxy? I would suggest a minimum of one coat of cloth encased in resin, the more the better.

I say this because plywood, even "marine" plywood is a poor choice of building material for anywhere under the water line. Yes, I know that Catalina probably used it for the original but it is still a poor choice because as soon as it gets wet it will start to de-laminate and rot. Hence, the thick outer coating is necessary.

If you take your nicely made new rudder out of the water when you are not using the boat it should help keep it dry.

 

[CalebD]

Seems that you followed all the best practices when making your rudder. I hope it lasts a long time.

Thanks for your reply!!

I did coat the rudder with one layer of glass mat plus another layer about 1ft over and under the water line, also it has two coats of epoxy resin, 4 coats of 2 part epoxy barrier coat and 3 coats of bottom paint; I trust this will help keep the interior filler and core dry, also I per-drilled the holes for the hardware bolts with 7/8" bit, filled with epoxy and re-drilled with the correct size bit to prevent water getting into the core via the hardware bolts (that was the problem with the original one). I figure it's not perfect, but, after seeing how catalina built the original, I can assure you this one should last at least as long as the original lasted; so about 12 hrs of labor for 30 yr of rudder is not too bad.