J/80 Gudgeon Repair

Thanks to Bob Lemaire for the text and pictures.

A few years ago I had to replace my gudgeons because they had worn resulting in a lot of play in the rudder. To gain access to the bolts I cut a hole in the cockpit sole and installed a deckplate. By placing the opening in front of the motor mount I was able to insert my arm up to my elbow and reach up and down along the centerline of the boat. I used a deckplate rather than an inspection port because it is stronger and is made to stand on. This six inch port is more than adequate to work on the gudgeons. It's made by Viking Marine and is model PTL-6.


As you can see the lower gudgeon is very accessable. It can be seen and accessed easily from the inspection hole.	The upper gudgeon nuts are between the transom walls. This is a view looking up. You can touch the nuts easily and with a little patience can get a wrench onto them.
Lower Gudgeon	Upper Gudgeon