REPAIRING THE RUDDER BEARING AND OTHER WORK

The play (looseness) in the rudder had weighed on my mind the whole year. Its not an easy job and in addition when you take something apart there is always the possibility that you will find other problems.
So I have included some boring photos of the rudder rework..
In addition to this we had a total failure of our battery chargers (Cristec) so had to order new ones. We also had pretty bad window leaks on the saloon side windows. The problem here is that the bonding material which glues the window panels in place deteriorates in the heat. This is a Beneteau inherent problem. We also had a new bimini and sprayhood made, and the water maker had to be repaired.

The rudder and shaft are dropped down for access to the bearing bushing

here the bushing has been cleaned and glued back in place.
Ensuring that the looseness has been eliminated.

this is the bushing that goes into the rudder tube

the bearing surface on the rudder that runs in the bushing

More work...This is the rebuilding of our water maker high pressure pump

this is the Hydrovane installation partly done. We had to wait for lost parts to be shipped in

Kwanza sitting pretty with new bimini, spray hood and new Hydrovane installed