The Mahogany Rudder Repair

We are knee deep in boat projects while waiting on Mother Nature to flip the switch from winter to spring. Our latest work is a doozy of a rudder repair on our Alberg 35, Mystic. Each spring, we look closely at the original 60 year old mahogany rudder that steers our boat. It has a crack in the outer edge that has split dramatically in the last few years. Luckily, it is thru bolted to the rest of the rudder, but it needs our attention before we launch.

After a bit of research on Alberg owners websites and googling "how to repair a wooden rudder", we came up with a plan. First, we had to scrape and sand off all of the old bottom paint, exposing the mahogany. That job was one of those that you hate from the very beginning to the very end. The weather didn't help the situation. We had a beautiful 82 degree day but it was so windy, (20-30 mph), that we had to put up tarps to keep all the dust from settling on nearby boats. We created a little tent, held down by cinder blocks and chunks of wood that we found around the marina. In spite of being held down well, the tarps flapped loudly all day. We began by using scrapers and chisels to get the flaking paint off. Next, Dave hooked our palm sander up to the vacuum and sanded out what couldn't be elbow greased away. It took the two of us six, (or 12) hours to get the majority of the paint off. By the time we finished, we both looked like we'd been wrestling with a smurf. We were covered in blue bottom paint from head to toe. A hot shower helped get rid of the blue but we were sore from our contorted efforts under the tented hull.

Rudder before repair

Wind tent around Mystic's hull

Almost ready for epoxy

Crack goes all the way through

We'd hoped to complete the last of the sanding in the morning but woke to clouds and temps in the 40's. Rain arrived early morning and dropped several inches on us. Dave had covered the rudder with plastic so it didn't get wet. Our project timeline was heavily effected on day two but we were making progress.

Monday brought more rain but it cleared after lunch. Dave filled the big crack and slathered the rudder with epoxy. Then he palm sanded the first epoxy coat and added a second. Once that too had been sanded, Dave rolled on a white barrier coat, eventually adding a total of four coats. When he was done, it was flat and smooth. We are certain that our rudder is in far better shape than before the repair. It should last for years to come.

Orange spots are the original barrier coat

Dark Mahogany Peaking Through

First barrier coat

Final coat applied