Epoxy can be your friend

If used properly. We all know what happens if you use it badly.  Hopefully in this case, I am using it properly and wisely to achieve my goals of a well repaired and good looking rudder.

After pulling it free of it's cheeks and sanding it down to bare mahogany, I found myself looking at a couple of dents and two large gouges in the sides where it pivots. These were caused by a combination of it's loose fitting and too long a screw(s) holding the gudgeon in place. The tips of the screws slowly bit into the mahogany of the rudder blade and left two semi-circular gouges around the pivot bolt. Between these and the large "dent" in the trailing edge of the blade, and the repairs needed to fix them, I will not be able to varnish this lovely wood.

First: the damage!

I am not sure why, but on both the Rudder Blade and the Centreboard, both pieces of wood are more damaged on their trailing edges than the forward. I personally would think that the boat would do more damage running into things going forwards into shallow water. I digress.

Now the repairs:

Sadly the bottom the image is not varnish, but a layer of epoxy. Soon as it dries I will give it a good light sanding and then coat it in some nice "ivory" paint from the Kirby Catalogue. This will match the eventual colour of the centreboard and the interior of Spark. I think it's nice soft white will look nice against the varnished mahogany