Spongy Rudder Resolution 2.0

This is my solution to the spongy rudder problem Shan Skailyn experienced during our voyage in March. If you remember, the rotating plate to which the rudder hinges attach, the plate that makes it a 'kick up' rudder, had problems. Originally it was made out of plywood (see picture). After about 4 days of sailing the plate became soft for some reason and was twisting and flexing so much that the rudder lost much of it's effectiveness. We also feared that the thing might actually tear off if we didn't somehow fix it. We managed with the unbelievable provision of a handful of large washers. This fixed it temporarily, allowing us to finish the voyage... but just barely. By the time we arrived at our destination up north from Madang the thing was acting up again.

I asked some folks on the woodenboat forum, on the "outrigger and proa thread" what might be done to avoid this problem. Someone suggested (Gary Dierking perhaps?) plywood sandwiched between two aluminum plates. He also suggested plywood made of a stiffer type of wood. Can't remember what type it was and I don't have access to the internet at the moment to check. My solution varies only because I am limited on resources. I had to make do with what I currently have on hand. I only had enough aluminum left over to plate the one side. I think it should work though.

This is an 1/8" thick aluminum plate fastened with 13 epoxy bonded wood screws into a plywood base. As well as being attached with screws, for what it's worth, the aluminum plate is also glued with epoxy to the wood. Not sure how strong the bond will be to the aluminum, but at the very least it provides waterproofing for the wood between the plate and the plywood. Then all the rest of the wood was coated with epoxy resin, allowed to soak in and reapplied again while still uncured, so as to soak up as much of the stuff as possible. This should hopefully make the wood much less penetrable by water. The whole thing feels pretty strong. All the rest of the boat is out in town so I have to wait till we go out again in September to get it all assembled.

For comparison, I've attached here pictures of the original assembly (with the rudder attached) as well as a picture of the new one I've constructed.