Well, 12 bolts really.
It seems that the bolts that held the rudder bearing to the rudder post came off rather ugly when the rudder was disassembled.
Apparently they are also very special.
It would seem that a 10mm 1.5 pitch bolt in this particular diameter, size and thread pattern simply does not exist in the United States. Without them the rudder can not go back together, the boat can not get painted and we are stuck on the hard. When speaking with the yard they felt it necessary to order them from Hallberg-Rassy. Unfortunately, Sweden is apparently closed for some national holiday until next week. Visions of my boat spending all of May rudderless and dry have been haunting me for the last two days.
My plan, until about ten minutes ago, was to bring one of the busted bolts over to my friend who owns a machine shop to see if he could make some for me more quickly than I could get a new set from Sweden. He generously offered to help me turn these around quickly if he was capable of doing the machining and getting the stock.
While typing this update I received an e-mail from Vickie at H-R Parts, where she told me that even though she was on vacation she managed to procure the bolts for me (and my head valves) and had already shipped them UPS Express with an expected arrival of next Monday.
Next time I meet the pope I will suggest Vickie for canonization…thank you!!
