[Rhodes22-list] Cracks in keel

Wed Jun 18 13:55:59 EDT 2014

Rummy:

I have this sinking feeling that you may be right. The only way to know what
is in the keel, make sure there is adequate ballast (whatever that would be)
and ensure that the bottom of the keel is properly and adequately repaired
and strengthened, would be to cut out the sole and remove the ballast so I
could work on the inside of the keel. However, that sounds like a horrendous
job to me and at my age I am not sure I would have the stamina to do it. I
would be interested in hearing from anyone who has removed the ballast as to
how they did it and how difficult that task was. 
I have drilled out a core through the keel and did not find any concrete -
just a white resin type material with, I suspect, bits of lead.

Graham 

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of The Rhodes 22 Email
List
Sent: June-18-14 8:02 AM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Cracks in keel

Graham,
It appears that the previous owner(s) of your boat neglected her in a bad
way. My guess is that she was grounded or beached a lot. I've never seen a
keel  in such sad condition and I've been under many a Rhodes 22. I'm afraid
that a  complete rebuild/repair of the keel is necessary. I would start by
removing all  of the ballast so that you can see both sides of the keel to
make the repairs.  It's a slurry of concrete and lead shot if I remember
correctly. Drilling or  using a hammer drill and scooping out is the only
solution. If any voids are  left after the repair, you will be back to
square one in a very short times.  Injecting epoxy will work, only IF you
find all the voids. After removing the  ballast, the rest of the work is
simply glass work.
I like your lift. I might have to build me one and I love your hull color.  
I repainted RumRunner several years ago and went with yellow also.

Rummy

In a message dated 6/17/2014 4:32:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org writes:

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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