We are fortunate to have several OC1 and OC2s in the Manu’iwa club, and like any paddlers we would rather paddle than work on our boats. So, after a season of serious fun in Long Island Sound, it was time to take a closer look at a Tempest that several members had complained about. The issue was the steering, something to do with the rudder. A quick look under the stern showed that not only was the rudder at an odd angle to the canoe, it was rubbing the bottom of the hull. It even appeared that the pressure had caused two hairline fractures in the carbon. The first video shows part one of the diagnosis and repair.

There are not a lot of decent videos or articles about outrigger canoe repair, which is basically why I started this blog in the first place. It just so happens I had already seen the Outrigger Zone video on how to install a new rudder, so I went back to it for clues and discovered our club canoe had a nylon washer in the wrong place. Here is this video:

They use a little Loctite to keep the rudder screw in place. I did not have any and thought it would be better to test my repair prior to going bonkers with Loctite anyway. It can also be quite difficult to get a rudder properly aligned and screw it into place by yourself. You really want someone else holding the rudder while you tighten so it does not move around.

My second video shows the epoxy repairs I did on the hull with a West System product, also a little fairing and some strands of carbon mixed with epoxy to give new life to a rudder that has definitely seen some rocks. One of the most important takeaways here is that if your rudder starts to get really hard to move, take it out and clean out the shaft hole. The same goes for the tubes your steering cables pass through. Grit is going to build up in them, and issues will cascade.

Third video shows wet sanding with 600 grit paper wrapped around a sanding sponge. It does not take much to oversand so go light. Then I wiped everything clean, masked the repair areas with blue tape and hit them with my secret weapon: Fusion Krylon spray paint. This adheres to plastics, epoxies and is a quick solution versus gel coat to get you back on the water. We aren’t parading our canoes at the classic boat show, so putting a lot of time into nonessential cosmetic work is not a priority to me. This afternoon, on a glass October North Atlantic Sea, we put her back on the water and gave her a 9km paddle. She did great, so back to the club boathouse she went.

On the safety end of this, it is critical that our steering not fail us. Set time aside for routine maintenance on your va’a. Take care of it, and it will take care of you! See you on the water.