[Rhodes22-list] Rudder Askew

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Peter,

Just for snicks and grins and because I have no life here in the post flood Sanford Lake wasteland, I tried making the rudder position measurement on S/V Dynamic Equilibrium.  Both of my gudgeons were slightly off the transom centerline determined as described below.  The centerline of the top gudgeon was off the transom centerline by ~2 mm to starboard and the bottom gudgeon was off by ~1 mm to starboard.  This is probably close to the limit of precision of the measurement method itself.  I’ll be interested in hearing what you come up with.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

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From: ROGER PIHLAJA<mailto:roger_pihlaja at msn.com>
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2020 7:57 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder Askew

Peter,

Whew, this is a new one!  The thing about boats is there no such thing as square or plumb.  Everything is all faired curves and angles.  I guess what I would do is determine the midpoint of the transom on a line from gunnel to gunnel.  From this midpoint, draw a line down to the center of the curve at the bottom of the transom.  This curve has ~3” Radius and the center of it should be easy to determine.  Both gudgeons should be located on this transom centerline no matter if this line is exactly vertical or not.  As far as what the acceptable tolerance for being on the centerline is, you would have to ask Stan.  However, I would think it would be very helpful for him to have your measurement.  I can’t wait to hear the result of your measurement.

Good luck!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 29, 2020, at 5:35 PM, Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com> wrote:
>
> Oops, bottom gudgeon is 1/2 to port relative to the TOP one.  —Peter
>
>> On May 29, 2020, at 5:28 PM, Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> For as long as I’ve owned Silverheels, when the boat is at rest the tiller will move firmly to the port side of the cockpit.  For years I’ve intended to investigate this phenomenon, but it’s hard to do when the boat is in the water, and then hard to remember when the boat is ashore.  Today, I finally remembered.
>>
>> I transferred the boat from its trailer onto stands in preparation for working on the bottom.  I then put an 8’ 2x4 across the cockpit combings, put a 4’ level on top of that, and then leveled the boat port-to-starboard.
>>
>> I then put a level vertically on the transom along side the edge of the two gudgeons and found the the bottom one is about 1/2 an inch closer to the port side of the boat than the bottom one.  That may not sound like a lot, but if you take a step back, it’s quite easy to see that the rudder is not vertical and obviously not perpendicular to the rub-rail.
>>
>> I think I have a pretty good idea of how to go about making the rudder vertical, but before I start, I thought it would be a good idea to check with the list (and Stan, if he’s out there).
>>
>> The rudder should be vertical, right?  The cockeyed rudder is not part of Phil Rhodes design and General Boats intellectual property, is it?
>>
>> Just wanted to be sure.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Peter Nyberg
>> Coventry, CT
>> s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)
>>
>>
>