[Rhodes22-list] mast step mystery

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

Hello all ­ finally getting ready to launch "Patience" here in the far north
(compared to everyone but Graham!) after a long winter and some elbow
grease. She spent 22 years on the trailer under cover, but seems in
remarkably good shape, which is a tribute to the quality of the boat and its
parts. It has turned into a love affair, but my wife has accepted my new
mistress with equanimity, which is a first.

Now the question:

My mast step is held in place with three screws set into threaded receivers
bedded in the fiberglass, but the base has two additional screw holes
centred under the mast, and no sign they were ever used. The boat is a '76 ­
does anyone else have a similar mast step, and if so are there screws in
those central holes for added strength? Being a Rhodes it must mean
something.

I'm going to launch her for the season on Lake Memphremagog, which is a 25
mile long (and only 1 to 2 miles wide) glacier lake that runs from Magog,
Quebec to Newport, Vt. Winds are variable because of the surrounding
mountains and often die at the end of the afternoon. I am trying out a 2.5hp
4 stroke that was hanging unused in the boathouse, but expect that next
summer on Lake Champlain and perhaps up St. Lawrence River I'll need
something more like a 6 hp.

The only question mark left for the launch is ­ will the centreboard go
down????

I will keep you posted.

Jefferson
Patience (1976)