Cost of rudder repair

[mike ritenour]

Naw, I put her on a reef, ate the rudder and some keel.
Not a pleasant way to come to a stop.
rit

[evan]

Ouch, sorry to hear that. I had a hard grounding - in mud - once. That was a miserable experience. I can only imagine what it would be like on a reef.

Although, at least your rudder bought it out on the water - actually going somewhere - not at the dock because the wrong &^%& wire was attached to ground like mine.

I'd be curious to know the new one works out for you. Keep me posted.

My boat is on the hard in Florida while I figure out my plan for getting it back to New York now that I'm back at work.

[mike ritenour]

Thankfully, Outside of the rudder and some glass off the keel, she took it well, with little damage.
All will be right in the near future!

[Jim Walsh]

If I was forced to pay for the mold so a company could build me a rudder I'd consider the mold my property (I paid for it, didn’t I) and expect to take possession of it when my replacement rudder was shipped to me. The alternative would have been for them to keep it but send me a check in the mail every time they used it until the cost of the mold was amortized. I'm stunned a company charged you for durable tooling which they kept and have continued to make a profit with. For this reason alone I'd never consider using this company under any circumstance.

[mike ritenour]

FYI -
The good news is that there is a source, Foss Foam, that has a number of rudder molds for our Cape Dory's, especially the 33.
I'm not exactly sure who to thank for paying for the 33 rudder mold, but thanks a million.
If the person responsible (i will qualify the name with the rudder folks)will
Send me a pm and I will send you a nice thank you gift.
Rit

[Randy Capstick]

Mike,
Where is the boat presently? I am located on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. If there is any way I can assist you with transport/installation etc. let me know and I would be glad to help out.
Randy

[mike ritenour]

Thanks Randy,
We are in pt. Clinton, oh and doing well.
Appreciate the offer but we are doing fine.
Hoping to splash soon.
All the best,
Rit

[mike ritenour]

Well, I couldn't believe it.
Foss Foam shipped my replacement rudder in seven, yes 7 days.
It arrived on a large pallet, completely wrapped in bubble wrap.
When we dry fitted the rudder it fit like a glove.
The construction is awesome, the keyways were perfect and the rudder was an exact duplicate of what was there before.
BTW, I have no commercial interest in Foss Foam.
So saying, I found them to be an awesome company that saved my butt with an awesome product.
I highly recommend them to anyone with a need to replace a damaged or water logged rudder.
You won't be disappointed.
Any questions about my experience, please PM me.
Rit

[evan]

Glad it worked out for you Rit.
I'm the sucker who paid for the mould. They didn't have one for the '33 when I called them in Summer 2010 so I they made the mould from my old rudder. So, while I'm sure they were all the same in the first place, you now have a clone of my rudder!

And thanks for your kind offer of a gift, but it's really not necessary.

Jim, I considered trying to negotiate some kind of deal with Foss Foam about that. And I recall they were willing to ship me the mould if I wanted it. Frankly I was getting ready to leave on a cruise and I had a lot of other stuff on my mind, and didn't know what on earth I'd do with it, nowhere to put it etc. So I just left it with them and let people on the board know that they had it. I'm happy that it's there for other 33ers to get replacements with.
So I wouldn't blame Foss, they might have been amenable had I really made an effort to work something out.


All the best,
Evan

[mike ritenour]

Evan,
I am indebted to you.
Many thanks for blazing the trail for us and your fellow 33 owners!
At some point in time every 33 will need a new rudder due to water logging.
If we can ever be of ant assistance, please don't hesitate.
Rit

[moctrams]

I pulled Gabbiano a couple of weeks ago and had the hull soda blasted so the yard could barrier coat it. We put a moisture meter on the hull at various points and the hull is pretty dry for a 1982 boat except for the rudder and an old repair around the rudder shoe. The yard will grind out around the rudder shoe and fix it. The rudder although wet, does show any delaminating. I’ll keep and eye on the rudder and replace it when it starts to delaminate. The rudder post is bright and shiny with no visible signs of failing. It’s good to know Foss Foam can build a new rudder for the Cape Dory 30.

[MFC]

What did soda blasting run you, if you don't mind sharing that info? Were you happy with the results? Is it a mobile opperation or do they just work out of that boatyard? Thanks.
Matt

[moctrams]

The soda blasting cost me $950. I was very happy with the results. The blaster wrapped the hull in plastic and performed the operation leaving the residue in the plastic and simply rolled up the plastic and disposed it. He only took it down to the gel coat to reveal any pitting, wet spots and delaminating. The blaster is mobile using a huge compressor and a hopper for the soda. The blaster goes to your location. I like it because he took all the old bottom paint off for disposal. Our marina operator does not allow any copper bottom paint and I wanted to start with a clean bottom for the “Pacifica Plus” bottom paint.