rudder post

Previously I'd speculated about the rudder post and its sheath of epoxy.... Well, forgot to mention that I got to the bottom of the mystery... Along each side of the trailing edge of the skeg, a stainless plate about 1" wide and the length of the skeg has been attached, with the purpose of holding a 'flap' of stiff material in place to close the slot between the skeg and rudder...... The additional material on the skeg is to fair into this metal fixing... so no structural concerns.... I just need to remove the metal strip and fairing next season.... its not neccessary on a cruiser..... Also, found a couple of osmotic blisters on the rudder.... the hull is fine, absolutely no sign at all...... i've dug them out now...they were tiny, and will fill them before priming, and take another look next season to see if its worth removing the rudder and taking it home to strip the gel off and dry it out properly.... suspect its so minor that its not worth it.... and they may even never reappear.... they were only 2mm across anyway...