Today the weather wasn't freezing, and my running gear needed cleaning so I went scuba in all my gear at the dock. Yes there were buggers which I squished and scraped, but I'll be damned the bottom of my skeg is just about broken off! My cutter has a longer skeg/rudder than most of the boats. It extends below the lower rudder hinge by 8-10", and the rudder is longer too. The smile which goes almost all the way around this skeg piece is directly below the bronze of the lower rudder hinge. I read the skeg is just a part of the hull on most boats, but I suspect on the cutters they just fabbed a piece and glassed it onto the same skeg that all the other boats have, rather than remake the mold. That would explain the even smile. The back of this broken piece is rubbing the rudder a bit but it's not bad. I must reference you to my blog from September boracaystar . blogspot . com where we sailed overnight to pensacola and ran into something that stopped the boat twice in 70' of water.. Considering September was the last time I went swimming, and didn't notice the damage back then and haven't run aground badly since, that must have been the second 'bump' on our trip and not the keel as I thought. Well Yikes!
So I'd normally freak out a bit more on such things but the boat hasn't sunk yet, nor has it taken any water. This may just wait until my next haulout. At very least I want to look at this better in clearer water, but I wasn't imagining. It's a crack at least 1/4" wide running all the way round the skeg, with the aft most fiberglass holding it on. It even has barnacles growing in it. Maybe I can get some oysters to glue it back together for me. As a Patch I might shove some underwater epoxy in there. Does anybody have knowledge of how the bottom of the cutter skeg was built? I suspect I'm right about the extension being an addition rather than the mold being redone as it appears they did for the keel. I didn't have a screwdriver to stick in it to see if it had a ceiling above it which would represent the skeg's hull. It only appeared to be about 3-4 layers of glass that were ripped but visibility was really poor with a thermocline obscuring view. But I did stick my scraper in 1/2" or so.
I'm a tad concerned that just our normal sailing might rip it off, but I'm great with epoxy and I could make a new and improved one in a day or 2. It might just do this actually, and I'll reinforce the hell out of the attachment. But I suspect I'll have to remove the rudder hinge. I'm more concerned if the rudder gets hit that's a bit more difficult and expensive of a repair. That's the whole reason I bought a boat with a skeg protected rudder, but I suppose it's already paid for itself! I feel great this didn't happen on my old Hunter 31, it's built so poorly I would have bought myself a new rudder and an expensive tow to boot!
Mike
Pearson 367 Cutter Hull 26
Boracay Star
Niceville, FL
Mike,
It is my understanding of the skeg on the 367 is the same as yours... I have been told that the rudder mounts are the same on both 367 & 365. As you pointed out, the rudder on the 367 is very different than the rudder on the 365 as is the skeg. (see the last picture in the following link for those that have not see the Cutter underbody)
http://www.sailingseadragon.com/SlingLocation.htm
Since the mounting hardware is the same on both boats, it is only logical that the cutter skeg is a modified version of the original.
Richard Mogford, out of CA, replaced the gudgeon on his 367 and it turned out that they are the same for both the 365 & 367. Based on the pictures sent me by Richard, it appears that the lower portion of the skeg may not be part of the hull but added after the rudder is installed...
http://www.sailingseadragon.com/gudgeon.htm
I will try to find Richard's contact information this week and PM you as I suspect he can answer your questions,
Garner
How do I post pictures of 365 skeg and rudder..?
The following link will help
http://www.pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=986.0
Garner
OK,
Here is a picture of a 365 skeg.
(http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s233/dtskibo/Misc012-1_zps3b516ca3.jpg)
Hope this helps...
Dale Tanski
Thanks Dale, Garner and others!
That was a super fast response! When I was in the boatyard in May I used a wire wheel to scrape back the putty covering the gudgeon like Garner did. It flaked off like drywall. I'll look for those pics, but I epoxy puttied it back, thinking it will be hell if I ever have to get the epoxy off, hah! I'm glad to read the thing on Garner's site about the ' "false" bottom of the skeg'. I suspect I have busted whatever glass was holding it to the skeg and possibly bent the bronze parts it is bolted to.
Any chance captain Richard Mogford of s/v Water Spirit would have any more pictures, or could mention about removal of the false skeg? I'm going to the boatyard next week to complain that my bottom paint from May is already admitting a huge amount of barnacles, and we have light fouling in my bayou. Perhaps I can get a deal on a haulout and fix both problems. However there's always the difficulty of living on the boat in a boatyard :(. I might wait until we have family in town so at least my wife can stay with them while I'm at work.
Cheers!
Mike
I removed the rudder a couple of years ago. Maybe these picture will help:
http://s1261.beta.photobucket.com/user/barrylab1/library/Rudder%20Skeg%20Work
I had water building up in the hollow skeg, and it looked like there was damage to the skeg foot, and the rudder had some side to side play.
If nothing else it shows how the rudder is held in place. BTW I replaced the bearing at the bottom with a Delrin one I machined up, and the rudder is solid now.