Taking back control

The return voyage from France confirmed what we'd been suspecting for a little while - Maunie's steering was becoming increasingly stiff. Safely back on the mooring, we disconnected the Whitlock Mamba wheel system from the rudder which confirmed that the Whitlock system was turning freely but the rudder was seizing up. Nothing for it but an unplanned trip up the Rive Dart to have the boat hauled out at Baltic Wharf.

Graham had worked out the process of disconnecting and releasing the rudder but was, understandably, a tad apprehensive so he enlisted the help of Dave Sharp and the team at Baltic Wharf to assist in removing the heavy rudder and diagnosing the problem. 

With the bottom bearing removed we had to rotate the rudder back and forth to get it to slide out

With a 70mm diameter solid stainless steel shaft, the rudder needed 2 strong people to lift it

With the rudder removed we found the first probable cause of the stiffness. The lower lip seal (designed to prevent water getting int the main bearing) had collapsed and the stainless steel tensioning spring had broken - we think it was coiling up as the rudder turned, impeding the movement.

The next issue was slightly perplexing. Inside the hull is a heavily reinforced rudder tube with a hard polymer plain bearing inside it. At the side of the rudder tube is a grease line which feeds waterproof grease from a manually operated greaser to the stainless shaft.

Well, that's the theory. What we found was that there was no hole drilled through the inner (cream coloured) bearing to allow the grease to reach the shaft - we now understand why we never had to refill the greaser and could only ever get an eighth of a turn on its handle. 

We've now drilled a hole through and were lucky to be able to read the part number on the lip seal and get a pair of replacements (there's one at the top of the bearing as well).

All the components of the rudder system, checked and dry fitted before reinstalling

With the help of Dave and a hydraulic jack, Graham was able to refit the rudder and reconnect everything. We relaunched on Wednesday and are delighted that Maunie's steering is now one-finger light. We're very happy to have solved that problem!

We're now hoping for some decent autumn weather to go sailing again.