[Rhodes22-list] Cracks in Cement Ballast

[Lou Rosenberg]

I feel your pain fellow Rhodes owner, your name?

I've repaired this same issue and its not an easy one, but doable.

Roger Pihlaja a Rhodes owner and very highly talented engineer helped  
me design a repair based on using GAROLITE.
Garolite sheets can be ordered through McMaster Carr online and are  
not expensive. THey are totally waterproof laminate sheets used for
everything from marine repair to electronic boards.

First I would get the boat out of the water , preferrably on stands  
about 4ft off the ground.
Using a mechanical advantage rigged from the pop top support inside  
the cabin and a hydraulic jack with wood to protect the edge of the  
CB, I would
have someone help as you push up from below with the jack as you pull  
up simultaneously from the cabin.  IT will  come out and back into  
the cabin slowly.

I used a dremel tool with a FLEX drive  extension and a diamond  
tipped cutting wheel (Home Depot or Lowes) to cut away the bulging  
laminate.
Then make templates of the cut away sections and glass in the  
Garolite.  Any voids can either be filled first with cement  or  
filled later from above  with sand.
Glassing in the panels is the toughest part but if you keep your wits  
about you It is doable.  I suspended the panels (i had to place 4  
into my trunk cavity) with wire after thoroughly prepping the edges  
of the walls by sanding (dremel or sanding sticks made from 1/2"  
ply)  Measure the walls constantly using a caliper and I even made an  
extension for my caliper jaws so I could measure the space exactly as  
possible.

My board needed complete sanding and applications of barrier coated  
epoxy (West Sys 422) After the panels are glassed in and sanded  you  
need to apply a few layers of epoxy with barrier coat to protect you  
repair. THen of course prime and paint the walls with anti fouling  
paint.

I also needed to completely re do the mechanical advantage of my CB  
cap and even now I  will most likely have to re do the edge of my cap  
and trunk flange with more epoxy when I come out of the water in 2010.

feel free to ask me any other question you may have .
good luck with your repair

hope this helps

Lou
s/v Miracles
Bklyn NY


On Aug 4, 2009, at 11:24 AM, atmcneil wrote:

>
> I have an '81 Rhodes and it took on water. I have been repairing it  
> and what
> I've found is that the pin on which the centerboard is suspended was a
> stainless tube about 2". It gouged a silver dollar sized hole in the
> centerboard housing through which water infiltrated the centerboard  
> housing.
> It appears that it froze at least once and shot the cement through  
> with
> cracks.
>
> I chiseled out a good amount of the cement in the trunk and  
> repaired the
> gouged from the inside out. It's water tight, but now my problem is  
> that the
> centerboard housing bulged inboard (making the slot the centerboard  
> too
> narrow). I am now having trouble getting the board reinstalled.
>
>
>
>
> Edward-58 wrote:
>>
>> Hi All:
>> I recently found a 1983 R22 for sale that I was told that under the
>> floor boards the cement ballast had cracks in it.
>> How and why does this happen? Is it a common occurrence, even in  
>> newer
>> boats?
>> Should it be sailed as is, or has this become a project boat?
>> If it's a project boat, what would be involved in repairing it?
>> Thanks in advance for the info.
>> Ed
>>
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Lou Rosenberg
Videographer

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and
Human Development at NYU

239 Greene Street, Room 315
lsr3 at nyu.edu

(212) 998-5122