Tomwine
Member II
Has anyone installed a zerk into their rudder tube on an E 35 mk 2 while the boat is still in the water. I have talked with Christian and Ignacio about this procedure and Christian said he did it on a E 38 or his 32 which is a different animal and Ignacio did his 35 on the hard. I drilled a small pilot hole about 3 inches below the top of the tube and water started coming out of the hole. Thank god it used a small bit. I patched the hole and put on my thinking cap on "which is pretty small" to try and figure out how to complete this project without hauling the boat out of the water. It seemed when I drilled the hole that the water would pulsate as the boat moved up and down which made me think I was pretty close to the waterline. I have thought about putting a few large trash cans on the bow of the boat and removing all of the stuff I have stored in the stern lockers to see if the stern would lift up enough to clear that water line so I can epoxy the zerk in without water getting in the way. If anyone here has installed a zerk on their E 35 in the water and can offer me some ideas it will be much appreciated. Christian's great photos and instructions on doing this on his 32 or 38 were a great help in understanding how to prevent the tube from leaking. I have repacked mine and it still leaks so I'm sure this is the fix to stopping this aggravating problem. While sailing Bilge pump works pretty hard taking care of water coming from rudder tube. When boat is going slow almost no water comes in.
Thanks for any help
Tom Winesett
Hot Tamale
74 E 35 # 317
Thanks for any help
Tom Winesett
Hot Tamale
74 E 35 # 317