[Rhodes22-list] How's your keel work progressing?

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

Hi Gary:

 

I am sending this via the Rhodes list as messages to you email keep bouncing
back as undeliverable.

 

Sorry to hear about the lightening strike. Did it do a lot of damage to your
electronics? I have been thinking about installing a whole-house lightening
protection system. Have you look at them?

 

I have finished removing the bottom paint after many hours of scraping with
paint remover and then sanding with 40 grit sanding disks. I have also
starter the repair of the cracks in the keel. First I had to patch the holes
I drilled in the keel to determine what was in there, then I dug out the
broken cement around the cracks and then I packed in epoxy thickened with
high strength filler, then cabosil and finally fairing compound. I am still
at the last stage as I want to create a smooth edge before coving with the
cloth. 

 

I had drilled a few holes into the keel from inside. It seems odd but when I
try to get into the keel that way it all seems entirely solid and drilling
down is very difficult. Certainly I have not come across the voids that were
there when I drilled holes though the side of the keel. To complicate things
we had a huge rainstorm the other day and the tarpaulins leaked allowing
water to get into the boat and then into the keel through the holes that I
drilled. So, how do I get the water out? Right now I have my shop vac
blowing air into one of the holes. That is pushing some water out of the
keel through small cracks at the bottom of the keel. I am hoping that the
warm air circulating will evaporate what is there but I have no way of
knowing when it is dry. Ideas are welcome.

 

As for the hull, now that the paint is removed I am grinding out the osmosis
as best I can. Some areas are bad enough that I have to remove the gelcoat
entirely in an area of about 6"x6". In those areas there is a flurry of very
small blisters that look like a rash. I used my 7" sander/polisher to remove
the gelcoat down to the solid substrate and then I am coating with epoxy and
building back up with fairing. 

 

When all of that is done I will apply multiple coats of epoxy to the entire
hull - perhaps I will use the Interlux system 2000 - and then apply the
bottom paint. 

I created a new waterline 2" higher than the original and masked it off with
some tape (3M 5959) I got from my chandler that is supposed to be able to
stay on the surface for up to 90 days and still peel off without residue. It
looks like duct tape except that it is red and the adhesive is white. I am
hoping that the nonporous surface will not absorb the epoxy and the strength
of the tape will be sufficient to break the epoxy at the edge. Apparently it
is used in construction to mask stucco. At $20 for a roll it isn't cheap but
the prospect of masking tape being bonded to the hull makes the cost
bearable. West System suggests using electrical tape for this but I defy
anyone to find a way to apply the tape so that it is a straight edge. The
tape is very pliable and stretches to that as it is applied there are areas
where the tape gets narrower. In the end it is a completely unacceptable
line. I called West technical support and they were not very specific about
what to use other than to avoid any tape that is porous. The 5959 tape goes
on very nicely with enough rigidity to give a straight line and seems to
come off very cleanly in my test. Now I don't have to worry about getting
the epoxying done before the tape hardens.

 

I discovered that the area at the front of the trailer bunks where the hull
gelcoat had cracked has the same damage on both sides - see photo. 

 

So it is all very slow and I have had some lost days due to weather and
other interruptions. With luck and good weather I hope to have finished the
hull and keel in a week. I still haven't decided what to do about the
ballast. I will drill some holes through the sole of the boat into the keel
area and see what I find before I can decide how to approach that problem.

 

Graham

 

Graham Stewart

gstewart8 at cogeco.ca

613 389-1737

 

From: Gary Novotny [mailto:gjnovotny at comcast.net] 
Sent: July-28-14 10:15 PM
To: 'Graham Stewart'
Subject: How's your keel work progressing?

 

Graham,

 

I haven't seen any more postings about your progress since the one you
posted to the list a week or so ago.  Did you decide to beef up the hull by
laying up some more glass near the keel? What about the ballast?

 

I started on my trunk cap and have it ready to go back in. Unfortunately I
had to put my boat work aside for a while. Our house was hit by lightning on
July 9 and dealing with the resulting damage (no structural damage only
electronics)  kept me from devoting much of my free time to the boat. It has
been raining almost every day here lately which has further limited my
ability to complete the reassembly of the trunk.

 

Anyway, hope you are well and your boat is progressing to your satisfaction.

 

Regards,

 

Gary

 

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