The Rhodes 22 Discussion Group
gjnovotny at comcast.net
Mast Stay and Deck Compression
2018-09-19; 14:04:26 EDT
Member Since
2013-11-13
Posts: 33
I had a problem with the strut on my 1978 Rhodes. In my case the compression post sat originally on top of a floor strut which was lightly tabbed to the hull and was faced by a poured slab of ballast in the front . The floor strut was rotted out due to water intrusion from the leaking forward ports saturating the ballast. As a result the compression post depressed down about 1 and 1/4" until it rested firmly on top of the ballast preventing any further depression. I was able to fabricate a new strut by creating a template from the remnants of the old one. The new one was epoxy impregnated and heavily glued with thickened epoxy to the face of the now dried ballast material and also well tabbed to the hull with multiple layers of 1708 biaxial and epoxy resin. I did this without removing the compression post. Instead I used a floor jack and a 2x8 to raise the liner above and slightly beyond the desired elevation and I fitted another sized 2x6 to hold it up while I worked. I ground out several delaminated spots in fiberglass covering the top of the ballast and fully covered it with 3 layers of 1708 and epoxy resin. I created a apx 12x12" plate of epoxy impregnated 3/4" marine plywood and a smaller 3x5" plate of epoxy impregnated 1/2 marine plywood. The compression post now sits on top of the floor strut but also mostly on top of 3x5 plate layered on top of the 12x12 that's glued to the biaxial on the top of the ballast to distribute the load. I haven't seen any problems with the compression post in the three years that followed the repair. Gary 1978 Rhodes 22 S/V Moon Shadow.See the original archive post
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