One of our members is a keen sailor. When he bought a second-hand boat, it came with a spare rudder that was too damaged to use, with broken metalwork and badly blistered and peeling varnish. But after a bit of work, it made a lovely house number sign for his house!
Rudders for the Mirror dinghy are normally made of marine ply – 12 mm thick in this case – and may be varnished or painted. The rudder was dismantled, and the blade (the bit that normally goes into the water to steer the boat) was sanded back to bare wood, undercoated, and then top-coated with three coats of white yacht paint to give a smooth and weather-resistant finish.
The rudder stock (the bit than normally holds the blade and attaches it to the boat) was dismantled, and one half sanded back to bare wood. A paper template of the required number was printed and used to mark out the number that would be cut from the stock. Once sanded smooth after cutting, the finished number was coated with epoxy resin then three coats of marine varnish.
The number was attached to the blade with brass screws, with varnish dripped into the screw-holes to seal these from water ingress, then the whole blade was mounted (again using brass screws) onto a post concreted into the ground.
The result? A unique, and hopefully long-lasting, number board to help visitors and delivery drivers to find the right house!