It all went back in far more easily than I expected. What I couldn't do was fit the PTFE sheets either side of the blade, which I had before. I don't know if I really needed them, but there was no way they were going to go back in. This means there is a little bit of play on the blade, but that, I hope, might be a good thing. I can certainly pull the blade right up just by hauling on the up haul, which I could rarely do before. I usually had to use the boat hook to pull it right up. But I won't know until we are back in the water next year if there is too much play or not.
I have epoxied in an extra layer of marine ply into the top of the rudder head. This will stop the blade coming up too far and hitting the edge of the transom. My epoxy resin pump has now seized up completely. I tried to force the ball bearing back down to where it should be, but only succeeded in breaking off the whole valve assembly. Resin everywhere. This set of resin and hardener is well over a year old, probably getting on for two years, so I decided it was best to dump the lot. I have a repair pack which should cover all my needs over the winter. I have no major constructions planned.Just hope that the few bits I have used cure properly, which they seem to be doing.
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