Rudder, part 3

This is what I did to remove the stainless steel pin (mentioned in the previous post)- heated some water in the microwave to around 150˚F, poured it into some stout ziploc bags, placed one below and one above, wrapped with a towel, and used a cooking probe type thermometer to make sure I didn't get much over 140˚F at the rudder surface. Once thoroughly warmed, the epoxy around the pin was soft enough to allow the pin to come out.

The first wraps of uni, over the epoxy filler "a-frames" from before. Chunks of Corecell foam in the background, getting ready to install.

Corecell pieces glued on, filleted and edges softened. I made the front radius solid filler so that the pin would have solid material to press against, and the unis would have solid material to wrap around. Also seen here is the G10 tube getting glued in to act as the tiller pivot. (I really should have bought a piece for the gudgeon pin as well, but the 48" piece was going to cost $50 or so, and I skipped it. This piece was left over from another project, but it has the wrong inside ø for the gudgeon pin, and was too short anyway.)

Just about the last of the carbon applied in this pic. There's continuous multiple wraps of uni at each strap location, followed by 2 layers of cloth that extend 1 and 2" below the lower strap. The waterline will be right at the notch, just below the strap "bump", so I want to reinforce this area without making it substantially thicker than the rest of the blade.

Today I sanded it all up a bit, and gave the whole blade a coating of very slightly fairing filler-thickened epoxy to act as a guide/warning coat for sanding. Until now I've kept everything black in case I wanted to clear coat it, but I've decided not to- I don't need the bling factor, nor the extra work needed to fair with straight epoxy. I like the filler additives too much!

And here is the most visible progress on the boat- adding the mid-deck beam in front of f53 and the fore-and-aft stringers behind f53. Both still have a bit of trimming and sanding to be done, but this is just about the last thing that needed doing before the foredeck goes on.

I've filleted and tabbed a few more of the aft side panel-to-frame seams as well, just have f169 and the transom to go.