The Autumnal Equinox

[yachtsmanwilly]

We all wish it could be an ENDLESS SUMMER, but the spin around the old fireball says otherwise. R SMITH asked me to size and post these pics of his rudder shelf. SCROD is one of the resident exspurts on this one! I dealt with some of that fuzzy wood on the OB side of the starboard engine on the sub. IIRC, mine didnt do much except hold a clamp for a pipe for the Cardox System. It got the skilsaw treatment. Weird Hatteras fur plywood...

Personally, Ive had pretty darn good luck using pressure treated stuff, all fitted up, then pulled and painted with thinned rustoleum 3X then some finish coats, allowed to dry well in the sun, then put in with some good glue and let it sit until cured.

Here ya go Scott... anytime ya wanna shoot me some pics to resize its no biggy... Theres also a shot of a new SUB (55 Commander) in Philly for FREE as is with paperwork. I wish it were on the lakes! Click on each pic for full size rendition... Bill in TR

[rsmith]

I’ve got PT marine ply for the back bulkhead that’s been curing on the floor of the salon for a couple years got weights on it so it doesn’t potato chip. I hate to sacrifice a piece for the rudder shelf. What’s 3x rust oleum? Or was it 3 coats of thinned?

[bigbill]

in my ER i had some plywood walls (non structural) that looked like that, i cleaned it up as best as i could, dried it, painted with thinned rustoleum two times, let it dry good, then sanded the ruff stuff off and re- coated with rustoleum full strength

[yachtsmanwilly]

Maybe its just what happens as these guys age.. I know for sure I feel kinda fuzzy sometimes too... maybe a shot of rustoleo would help!

[skycheney]

For my rudder shelf, I used cabinet grade baltic birch ply, coated it with a couple of coats of West System, then painted with BilgeKote.

[rsmith]

Thanks Willy for reducing the pics. The culprit in all this was the copper hatch drain started leaking at the transom penetration. The shelf supports are 2x6 or so. I guess PT would work but I was thinking cypress or IPE. I used cypress on the rub rail and IPE where I didn’t have to bend it. Everything has kind of snowballed in the last 10 years I’ve been gone and it gets discouraging at times but she still runs like a raped ape and the generator is new. Like my old man used to say “inch by inch anything’s a cinch”

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[Avenger]

Mine suffered two insults. A leaking deck hatch and "struck submerged object" or similar collision. Apparently it was quite bad and took out a rudder (cracked the other one too) and both struts. It also broke the rudder posts. It was before I owned the boat, but anything other than a Hatteras probably would have ended up on the bottom.

The hit also separated the shelf tabbing from the transom. So the rudder shelf was just kind of floating back there. It was installed on 2x6s that used a lot if putty to correct the height.

I have pics of what I did, but they're on a computer at the shop. My biggest problem was access. Fortunately there was a large deck hatch added along with a fishbox so I had more access than the original hatch. Of course, the bigger hatch caused the rot sooooo....

Anyway, I wouldn't use wood again, but it is a great structural material so if you can make it work, good deal. I ended up laying up solid fiberglass to replicate the plywood shelf. This was before I knew about miracle products like Coosa.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Im sure glad Im not the only one with a 60 year old boat LOL...

[Avenger]

Mine's only 52..

[bigbill]

mine turns 50 this year