Commander 147

[captcraig]

Hi Jerry, Thanks for your reply on A 157. Its not mine yet but should be soon. There is a commander here in OKC at the OCBC. I have always admired the boat. Only interested in an Ariel over the Commander because I would like to try a little offshore stuff with one. Your boat is nice. I've not seen one with primary and secondary winches but I'm kind of a newby when it comes to these boats.

[Commander 147]

Well, things have not been going as fast on Destiny as I was hoping for because my Mom passed away the end of January and I have had to spend a couple of weeks in Wisconsin first dealing with the funeral and then with the estate. In addition a lot of my time at home has been absorbed with issues associated with it all. But I have made some progress so I thought I would do an update.

First, when I bought Destiny the previous owner had hit a rock with her and tore up the bottom of the keel. So I took her to the local marina so they could lift her off the trailer and set her on stands which would allow me to work on the bottom of her keel. I ground out all the damage and glassed it back in. Then I layed up 4 more layers of 1708 biax along the entire length of the bottom of the keel as additional reinforcement. I faired that out and at the same time faired out some of the original irregularities in the side of the keel.

Getting Destiny off her trailer also allowed me to get the old rudder off so I could start my electric drive installation. I have her back home now and have rounded up the parts I will need for the new rudder and the electric drive. I have the new shaft log, prop shaft, cutlass bearing, stuffing box, and prop. The rest of the electric drive I bought a long time ago with the exception of the barreries. In addition I bought the marine bronze to make up the new rudder shaft and had it fabricated for the new rudder. The picture of the parts (laying on top of the old rudder) is below. The 3/8" rod was drilled, tapped and brazed into the 1" shaft.

I plan to follow Chance's method of building the rudder. I hope I can live up the the level of quality of fabrication he showed us.

[Ariel 109]

Jerry,

Sorry to hear about the passing of your mother. Balancing all of our obligations is an art that I know you excel at. If it's only months or a few years until your boat's complete I'm sure it will have taken the right amount of time.

Ben

[Commander 147]

Thanks Ben

I appreciate your kind words.

I am trying very hard to get as much done as possible before the summer heat and humidity kicks back in again so I am racing against the clock. I really really want Destiny in the water this fall when sailing season kicks off here in Florida.

[Commander 147]

Trying to get a handle on where to drill the hole for the shaft log. This is one side of the plywood that will sandwhich the J-bolts attached to the rudder shaft.

[Ariel 109]

Nice work Jerry! My only thought is that Constellation style rudder is more vulnerable than the original design. During a low tide grounding that rudder will make a pivot point on the bottom and induce all sorts of stresses. The original design was rounded off to prevent rudder damage when a sailboat is rocking it's keel in the mud, common in my parts. I find it hard to believe adding that small addition to the bottom of the rudder helps the boat sail better. Weather helm is controlled by sail trim.

Ben

[Commander 147]

Ben thanks for your critique. Getting help from you and the others here to avoid making a screwup is one of the best parts of a forum like this. You are not alone in your thoughts about how my new rudder should be shaped. A very good friend of mine had similar thoughts about how I should shape the new rudder. The pictures below are his thoughts on how to add a little rudder surface down low but still keep it from hitting bottom. What do you think of his design?

You know this is the first time I have ever done a boat restoration like this and it seems like I have been forced to do every major component twice. The first time I learn what I should have done and the second time I get it as close to right as I can.

Here in Florida all the water is skinny so keeping the rudder off the bottom is very important.