[Rhodes22-list] Center Board Well Leak

Mon Jul 13 20:11:16 EDT 2009

Dave,
I think someone suggested, maybe Rummy, that he might rejoin with things cleaned up a bit.  I email directly now and then with him and he would be a big plus.  Always willing to be of help.
Art

-----Original Message-----
>From: david.walker5 at comcast.net
>Sent: Jul 13, 2009 6:08 PM
>To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Center Board Well Leak
>
>Lou,
>
>My CB cap is sealed only with a 0.25" gasket of neoprene - no silicone. I apparently have had no leakage at that seal. 
>
>Is Roger still on the list?  Last time I was active he/you had dropped off
>
>Dave 
>
>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Lou Rosenberg <lsr3 at nyu.edu>
>
>Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:23:55 
>To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Center Board Well Leak
>
>
>David
>
>Well documented!
>I just spent last Fri and Sat installing the CB on my restored 1981  
>boat.  I didnt have that piece of UHMWP in the shape of an upside  
>down V but someone did install a V shaped SS at the bottom of the  
>forward end of the trunk on the exterior.  This we guessed (Roger  
>Pihlaja and I) was to suppress and additional side to side movement  
>with out encumbering vertical movement of deployment/retraction.
>
>I think I ve made all the mistakes you could make taking the board in  
>and out.  This spring I  forgot to run the hose from the pennant hole  
>through the open slot to the yard floor when I pulled the board. So  
>you guessed it,  the rain filled my bilge and luckily just spilled  
>over the open flange and out but my bilge had been redone and not  
>perfectly so some water did find its way into the cockpit foam Im  
>sure.  That small amount did drip out of the aft end of my keel for a  
>few weeks before I painted.
>
>The process of adding the silicone even in small amounts to the top  
>of the flange while the cap and the gasket are inches away waiting to  
>be installed is
>painful. I used plastic wrap to protect the  pennant from fouling.
>I recently thought about adding some kind of plastic strip which  
>would run the entire length of the trunk and have two sets of tabs to  
>separate the gasket from the top cap and the bottom flange. THe idea  
>is to create a small 1/2" space when everything is all stacked up,  
>but NO bolts in would allow you to add the silicone easier and then  
>pull out the plastic after applying the silicone all around on both  
>surfaces  top and bottom of the gasket.  The inside pc of plastic  
>keeps the
>goo from entering the trunk and you pull them out laterally spreading  
>the goo evenly and taking out any extra you've put in.  Then you just  
>add bolts  tighten and
>torque.  Easier said than accomplished for sure!
>Btw this job is done best by people 4ft tall so if you're vertically  
>challenged I want to hire you now!
>
>for us 6fters out there, does anyone have a good pilates tape they  
>want to share?
>Lou
>sv Miracles
>
>
>Two strips of hard plastic it could be acrylic or even garolite one  
>inch high with 90° angle tabs.  The tabs would ride along the flange top
>On Jul 13, 2009, at 3:42 PM, david.walker5 at comcast.net wrote:
>
>> Greetings to the list.
>>
>> I haven't been active on the list for a few years but have been  
>> actively sailing my boat, Windswept, out of Salem harbor in MA. I  
>> re-signed up to share with you all something I found this spring  
>> that I think should be brought to all owners attention.
>>
>> For the 11 years I have owned my R22 (bought from Stan in 1998 as  
>> recycled) I have been fighting a slow leak. Many helpful  
>> suggestions pointed at rainwater leaks, which I did have and were  
>> mostly fixed. However there was a consistent salt water leak that I  
>> could not find. I pretty easily ruled out the thru hulls and was  
>> left with the centerboard well. Two years ago I removed the cap and  
>> cleaned the mating surfaces, replaced the fender washers and  
>> removed a small block that was through bolted to the top of the cap  
>> (part of the 4:1 board raising tackle). This didn't make any change.
>>
>> Last summer returning to the boat (at her mooring) after a weeks  
>> absence I found water about a foot above the sole. The battery was  
>> under water and completely shorted out. Its unclear whether the  
>> bilge pump failed or the increasing leak rate caused the pump to  
>> discharge the battery. Anyway, I limped to the local marina where I  
>> winter store, pumped out the bilge with a home sump pump, had an  
>> emergency haul and had it blocked for the winter. (I was pretty  
>> discouraged and was about to leave on a 3 week trip).
>>
>> This spring I resolved to find the leak once and for all. When I  
>> opened the boat I found a little rain water in the bilge but  
>> nothing was leaking out. I filled the bilge to above the cap and a  
>> steady trickle started to run out of the aft end of the CB slot. I  
>> lowered the water with a pump to just below the cap seal and the  
>> trickle continued. I lowered the water level to about halfway from  
>> the cap to the bilge and the trickle stopped. Very strange. This  
>> eliminated the cap seal and the pennant thru hull as a leak.
>>
>> I removed the cap (fun job) and carefully inspected the inside of  
>> the well. At the aft end I found a piece of UHMWP in the shape of  
>> an upside down V wedged from side to side at the top of the well.  
>> My guess is its job is as a seat for the top of the CB when it is  
>> up to keep it from moving side to side. The critical thing is that  
>> this piece was screwed in place with long screws from the top of  
>> the piece, diagonally down through the side of the well from inside  
>> to outside. The tips of the screws were actually though the outside  
>> of the well about halfway up from the blige to the cap. After years  
>> of the board banging into this, the screws had loosened in the  
>> fiber glass and I could literally just pull them out with my hand.  
>> These screws were loose in their holes had provided literally two  
>> holes in the bottom of the boat. I took them out, dried out the  
>> area, ground it down and patched with epoxy and two layers of glass  
>> inside and out.
>>
>> My point in this post is that this may or may not have been done at  
>> the factory and I'm not blaming anyone, but it was present in my  
>> hull. If anyone has a slow leak in this area, it would be worthwile  
>> to check it out, and if you pull your cap for any reason definetely  
>> check it. Now I just have to finish all those pesky port light rain  
>> leaks!!
>>
>>
>> Dave Walker
>>
>>__________________________________________________
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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
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>__________________________________________________
>
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