A ruddery repair - part 4 (final part)

Putting the rudder back on was a lot easier than taking it off. With the stern bearing out of the way, it slid into the rudder tube effortlessly. After rebuilding the surround and refitting the stern bearing, quite a lot of buggering about with the greaser tube for the stern bearing, refitting the prop shaft, reassembling the prop, and some filling, fairing and antifouling, it looked like this:


At the same time, all the usual maintenance was ongoing. Harbour mud stains were removed from the topsides with oxalic acid. The shine was restored with rubbing compound and sealed in with 2 coats of wax. Toe rails scraped, sanded and oiled (not quite finished yet). Hull washed, rubbed down and antifouled - 2 coats, British racing green.

How sexy is that?

We launched on Saturday the 4th of April. It'll still be a few weeks before we're ready to sail, mind you. The mast and boom are to be repainted before we put the rig back on and the new instruments are still to be fitted. The new sails should be delivered later this week (very exciting).
Then, by God, we're going to go sailing.