Rudder Brkt,s Maint.

[Highlander]

In 2016 seasonal inspection I noticed some rust on my rudder brkt mounting bolts & nuts down in the aft birth so been keeping an eye on them as I was not sure if it was just due too excess moisture down there from time to time , so upon my annual inspection this yr I noticed the rust has expanded into the bolts them selves & they r now seeping in sea water


So I,m not sure if they loose because I have the bigger Ida sailor Rudder,s or if they 3M sealant has just failed due to time boat is now 10yrs old

So I,m gonna haul the boat out shortly to remove both rudder brkt,s & drill out the brkt & transom holes from 1/4" too 5/16" let the transom dry out for a couple of days reseal with new 3M 5200 fast set & re-install with 5/16" bolts that,s the plan as these holes r below the water line so I will not know if the bolts r compromised with rust & now might only b half of their original 1/4" Dia. so I,m a little concerned that the brkt,s might break off in a rough sea under heavy stress due to yr,s of use .
So as u know this would b considered a maint. issue something that should b inspected annually I,ll also b replacing the rudder bolts at the same time & buy some spares while I,m at it
I,ll also use & take this opportunity to see where I,m also gonna install my new chirp transducer for my Raymarine MFD unit
So my new Radar Arch I ordered back in mid Dec has now arrived by ship in Vancouver BC so hope to have it in my hands by the first wk in Jun
So I,m hopin to kill three birds with one stone so too speak

Any way just thought I,d mention this maint. issue as some of u may not have thought of doing this inspection annually !

J