From: Damien Tremolet
Sent: December 8, 2023
To: Richard Minielly
Subject: Question on keyway pin

Hi Richard and all,

I hope you and the team are well.

We made our way safely and pleasantly to West Indies, currently in St Vincent. The Vane has been an excellent companion in all weather conditions. Sometimes challenging to tune but we learnt and improved over time !

We found recently an issue with the key way pin (on the shaft meant to ease the insertion of the rudder) photo attached. There are signs of corrosion and now it does not fit correctly (too loose in the hole). We found this out when removing temporarily the rudder.

What is your advice ?

Kind regards,

Damien

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From: Richard Minielly
Sent: December 8, 2023
To: Damien Tremolet
Subject: Question on keyway pin

Hi Damien,

Great to hear from you, and I’m happy to hear that your Hydrovane was a valuable companion across the Atlantic! There is definitely a learning curve to sailing with a windvane, but once dialled in the process is generally quite rewarding. Do you mind if we post your email to our True Stories page? No worries if you prefer to remain private.

That’s very interesting that the pin fell out. We haven’t seen that before, although some corrosion in that area is quite normal. The pins are originally glued in place, and it’s likely that yours had an issue with the bond that allowed it to come out and for water to penetrate in and speed up the corrosion process. It can be glued back in place with a strong epoxy, which should also fill any gaps from the lost material.

If you’d like, we’re happy to provide a new keyway pin. However, as it would be the same spec and subject to high shipping costs to St. Vincent, I would recommend re-using the existing pin with a thick epoxy adhesive instead. If you have any technical questions on the process, I’m happy to help.

Best Regards,

Richard Minielly

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