RUDDERLESS SHIP
A rusty rudder shoe leads to further hidden troubles on Hugo’s classic wooden launch
Much like the Forth Rail Bridge, as soon as you finish fixing one problem on an old wooden boat there’s another that needs sorting. That’s all very well if it’s a precious classic that only comes out on high days and holidays but when it’s a shared family runabout that gets used almost every day of the week from May to September, the maintenance tends to get postponed until the end of the year.
And so it was with our dear old 1947 motor launch Isabel. When she was lifted in April 2020 for her annual scrub and antifoul at Salterns Marina in Poole, they noticed the steel keel extension supporting the lower rudder shoe had corroded to such an extent that it was becoming worryingly thin. However, with lockdown backlogs meaning a new one would take at least six weeks to fabricate and the prospect of several family holidays being spoilt by Isabel’s absence, we decided to postpone further repairs to the winter and keep a careful eye on it over the summer months.
As well as the potential disappointment of not being able to get afloat, there was also Isabel’s own health to think about. The last thing you want to do with a wooden boat of her age is leave it out of the water for any length of time as the planks start to dry out and shrink, leaving gaps that may never close up again properly.
Besides, if the steel had held firm for the last 70 years there was every chance it would last another few months if we went easy on her and only took her out for short trips in calm weather.
We got away with it last summer but there was no postponing it again this year so when the time came for her annual lift out, Golden Arrow were ready and waiting to fit the newly fabricated steel section. Needless to say it didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned; on taking the old fitting off they discovered the wooden keel it was attached to had also rotted through. At some point the head of a previous keel bolt had been sawn off but the shaft was left to rust in the wood, causing it to expand and split the fibres allowing more water in.
SPEEDY REPAIRS
We had no choice but to saw out the rotten section of timber and scarf in a new piece of solid oak that the newly fabricated steel fitting could be securely bolted to. Thankfully, between Golden Arrow and Salterns, they had all the necessary craftsmen on speed dial and the job was completed with only a short extension to her allocated time on the hard and long before her ancient timbers dried out too much. By May she was back on her mooring off Sandbanks ready for the usual fun and games. And with so many of the family choosing a UK break this summer, she was busier than ever. In fact, I was just starting to think that we were going to get away with a maintenance-free summer when the call came in from another cousin. The engine was overheating, the tide was running out, they’d had to drop anchor just off a busy channel round the back of Brownsea Island and could I come and lend a hand? Oh dear, here we go again...