Since the rudder is off anyway taking a good look at the lower edge seemed wise. (It was also an excuse for not climbing down into "the hole" right away. Hours spent in there yesterday left more bruises and sore spots than a good street fight.) It looked ragged and was still showing a little moisture 24+ hours after the boat was pulled. As I’m sure you already guessed, the rudder obviously hit something pretty hard once upon a time. In addition it is split along the bottom seam; probably from spending a Chicago winter filled with lake water and sitting on the hard. And, as I’m sure you have also guessed, bondo dust flew off grinder and wire brush with nary a hint that fiberglass, or even epoxy, was anywhere in the same zip code when the work was done. Another "repair" done entirely in bondo and bottom paint.
Probably a good thing. Even a whiff that competency had brushed by this boat before we bought her would likely send me into shock. Even better, spending time on the rudder meant I never did make it into the hole. Tomorrow will be a better day for that anyway.
Probably a good thing. Even a whiff that competency had brushed by this boat before we bought her would likely send me into shock. Even better, spending time on the rudder meant I never did make it into the hole. Tomorrow will be a better day for that anyway.
1 comment:
When we bought our boat a year and a half ago, we began going through the different systems and fixing things... We discovered some pretty impressive botch jobs. We didn't get the impression that the previous owner was a shirker, so the only thing we could figure was that the repairs had been done in out-of-the-way places with whatever parts/tools he had on hand... then never correctly fixed when he reached civilization. I wonder if that is a lesson we learned, or if we'll just do the same thing... if it ain't broken (now), don't fix it!
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