[Rhodes22-list] Cracks in keel

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

You may want to read up on using fiberglass.  All I have read indicated that you need to sand or grind the fiberglass to a gradual taper.  Taper to the crack enough to apply the new glass in layers so that the hull has the strength it had before.  Three to four inches might be correct.  Look up how to repair cracks on boats. I just Googled it and watch a lot of You tube.

Like you lift.

Good luck,

Chuy


---- The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote: 
> Graham,
> 
> I love your lift. Maybe I will build one some day. It would make bottom painting so much easier. 
> 
> I have not done any of this work (hope I never will) so I cannot offer advice. 
> 
> Stephen Staum
> s/v Carol Lee 2
> Needham, MA
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Jun 17, 2014, at 4:31 PM, The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:
> 
> > I have finally put my boat  into the lift I built so that I can begin work
> > on the cracks in the keel and would welcome any advice as to how this might
> > be fixed and speculation as to the cause so that I might prevent it from
> > happening again.
> > 
> > Picture 1 is of the boat in the lift. This allows me to get under the keel
> > to work in reasonable comfort.
> > The next two pictures show the cracks with the camera under the keel looking
> > up. The centreboard is removed. The cracks run along the edge where the
> > bottom of the keel meets the inside of the centreboard slot.
> > 
> > As for the cause, I suspect that some time in the past the keel was damaged
> > leaving a crack that allowed water to enter where it might have froze in the
> > winter doing further damage. On the other hand I would have thought that the
> > water would have drained out before freezing temperatures were reached.
> > 
> > There appears to be voids in the keel. The last shot shows were I was
> > drilling out osmosis blisters and went right through the skin into a void.
> > Tapping on the skin often creates a hollow sound suggesting that there are
> > plenty more voids. It seems to me that voids under the skin are a recipe for
> > problems. Drilling holes and pumping in epoxy would not be that difficult
> > for those I find under the outside skin but would be much more difficult for
> > voids under the skin in the centreboard slot - which currently looks intact.
> > I thought I might drill a series of holes through the cabin bottom into the
> > keel and push more epoxy down from above. To find voids I might need to
> > drill a lot of holes.
> > 
> > As for the cracks, my current plan, absent any other ideas, is to open the
> > cracks to allow access with a cartridge tip and force thickened epoxy up
> > into the crack. I would then apply layers of cloth and epoxy from about 3"
> > up to the slot down and around the bottom and up 3" on the outside. I have
> > ground out a bevel on the inside to allow for layers of cloth to be added
> > without making the slot too narrow for the centreboard. 
> > 
> > When all that is done I plan to do the whole bottom - drill out blisters and
> > do the blister prevention program recommended by West System. I don't want
> > to ever do this again so suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
> > 
> > Graham 
> > 
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