The rudder blade apeared to be the original, made from red cedar. It had a section cut out for the propellor that had been done when the boat was converted to power and the blade was significantly weakened with cracking. Although cracked the cedar still looked beautiful! The rudder had also been pinned with stainless steel rods and through bolts. All the other fittings appeared original. 

All the components were disassembled and then sanded back. The stainless ‘tie’ rods were reassembled with epoxy forced into the cracks in the rudder and then clamped to ensure the blade was flat. The blade was also coated liberally with epoxy sealer.

The tiller [foreground] also required some repair with epoxy. A hole was drilled at the tip of the crack to prevent it propogating further.

The transom had been replaced with western red cedar and was in good condition. The original transom was Australian red cedar, which we had and used to make veneers for small repairs. The existing transom was covered with new red cedar veneer. The veneer extended over the ends of the ply both sealing the ply and making it invisible.

It was a fun job coming up with a method to clamp the veneer to the transom without introducing any holes into the veneer! The picture shows the various wedges, planks and clamps used to secure the veneer.

These pictures also show the progression of the planking. The ‘rotten’ ends of the planks extended beyond the stern so there would be clean wood when they are eventually trimmed. Can also see some of the biaxial cloth on the ply sheeting joint. All the ply joints were made to coincide with the middle of a plank. 

The last veneer will be added when the hull is turned and the sheer plank is fitted.