Rudder post leaking

[dougw]

I am looking for the proper fix for a rudder post that leaks a small amount of water into the cockpit while under sail.

[Russell]

I am looking for the proper fix for a rudder post that leaks a small amount of water into the cockpit while under sail.

The rudder post uses a stuffing box much like your propshaft. As it sees much less wear then the prop stuffing box its rarely repacked and its likely that even on your 1977 boat that its never been repacked. If its leaking then perhaps it needs repacking. If the stuffing box is above the waterline you can likely do this while in the water. WHile undersail, the combition of the strain your putting on the rudder and the angle of the boat causing it to be under the waterline at that point is probably what causes the leak which you dont see when the boat sits idle.

[Sandy D.]

Hey Doug,
Theres a bronze(or brass) cap on top of your rudder post. Remove your tiller cap,theres a small allen screw holding the cap in place.Remove this cap and any packing under it. Either repack w/packing (it wont take much) or use a O ring to seal it up. Mine used to leak only under power,dry as a bone now. Good luck

-Sandy Davis

p.s. By the way,the holding tank in my 27 is under the V-berth, fresh water is under port settee.

[Wayne Grenier]

On my 1974 CD 28 the top of the rudder post tube has a small circular hole that is used as a grease fitting-last year the tiller was very tight so I dug out the old grease as best I could-used wd40 as a solvent then used a grease fitting at the end of a grease gun and refilled it with water proof grease-does anyone else have this configuration? the rudder post extends above my cockpit several inches so its never been a problem of water leaking-it looks like its just a real tight fit inside the tube--as far as I can tell-the only way to remove all the old grease would be to drop the rudder and scrape out the old grease from the now open rudder tube-as far as I can ell there is no bearing or stuffing box involved-just grease-thanks-

[Wally Bennett]

Hi dougw

My name is Wally Bennett
Is your Cape Dory 27 Sea More at the Haverstraw Marina???

I have CD 30 "evensong" at the Haverstraw Marina for winter storage.

I am located in the west yard. Maybe we will run into each other.

Wally

[Mitch F]

Wayne, our rudder tube is just as you describe. We have worm gear steering and suffer from some leakage but only when under power. Regreasing the shaft definitely slowed the leak down but I don't know how to stop it.

[Louis Gerhardy]

Hi Doug,
Last fall while plunging through near gale conditions and 10 to 15 ft. seas about 5 miles off San Francisco in my CD30 I noticed to my dismay a little water leaking from the rudder post area. That evening when we were docked at Half Moon Bay I did a thorough inspection but could not find a problem. During my search I decided to study the rudder post configuration in the original owners manual and was releived to find a statement that said it is normal to get seepage (I believe it said when heeled).
The next day when sailing back to SF Bay in bigger seas and 40 to 45 knot winds on the beam I did not have the leakage.
My diagnosis was the severe plunging while motor sailing out the Golden Gate into large seas directly on the bow caused hydraulic pressure in the rudder shaft tube which forced water to and a little out the top. If there was packing it may have been displaced by the hydraulic pressure. In my case all the water drained into the cockpit and down the drains. I could not find any water going into the hull.
If you have the original Owners manual for your boat you might check it out to see if it says about the same thing. I find it hard to believe Cape Dory would have minimized the rudder post leakage issue if it was serious but it still bears looking into. I have more investigation to do.

Lou Gerhardy, CD30C, Solace

[johnny of STORK]

In Stork (CD30) there is a packing gland similar to the prop shaft packing, but a size larger (1 1/4" rudder shaft). I just replaced the rubber hose ("log"), and packing when I rebuilt my rudder. This is under the deck, as I have a wheel, and would not be visible at all under sail or power, so I don't know if it leaked. If it did, it wasn't much. It has exactly the same configuration of 1/4" flax packing as the shaft does, and I just replaced it in the normal manner. I would assume one could tighten the packing for a long time to control small leaks there without replacing it, as long as you didn't have to drop the rudder anyway.

Johnny