| Author | Message | ||
     Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
John: Don't despair. Because your hull (#5) is similar in age to my own (#2), I think I may have some info that may help. When we performed my mast step repair, we probably did a more extensive job than most. We replaced all the ribs in the bilge with new stainless ribs (as opposed to mahogany). One of the reasons we did this was that we discovered my keel had only 6 keel bolts (versus 8 on most others). Most importantly, the 2 bolts that were "missing" were at the extreme fore and aft of the keel. This meant that the keel was significantly more "cantilevered" at each end (fore and aft). Here is how we utilized the stainless for the new ribs: We fabricated extensions for the existing keel bolts and then aligned them with stainless "tabs" fabricated onto the new ribs. The result is that my keel bolts now attach directly to the new stainless ribs in my bilge (in addition to the fiberglass stub), spreading the load much further than simply the fiberglass stub (it now transers the stress throughout the entire bilge). You will need to find some folks who are gifted with stainless fabrication. We took special care to remove the old ribs "intact" and used them as templates for the new stainless ribs. The new ribs are actually "I" beam in nature using 1/4 inch stainless strips 2 inches wide at the top ("flat"), and again at the bottom (bent to match the shape of the inner hull), with (2) vertical 1/4 inch elements between (a cross section would resemble the symbol for "pie" with a line across the bottom). The "tabs" were welded onto one side or the other of the "I" beam as necessary to align their respective holes with the keel bolt extensions. The keel bolt extensions were simply larger diameter stainless rod bored and tapped at one end to thread over the exisitng bolts, the other end was externally threaded to accept a larger nut where the extension attached to the new "tabs". It should be noted that we still used the old keel nuts to attach the keel to the "stub" before we "added" the other attachment above that to the new stainless ribs. Suffice to say, my keel ain't gonna fall off without taking the entire hull with it. The boat appears to be VERY stiff and performs like a rocket upwind in a blow. Obviously, you'll need to repair the damage already done (bummer). We did not have any problems in that respect. Still, the job cost me around $4k. That included alot of time spent figuring this problem out for the first time. Hopefully my experience may be of some use and may help keep your cost from getting out of hand. One advantage to the technique used on my boat would be that your repairs to the glass will not be complicated by their need to carry the huge weight of the keel by itself. Please feel free to call me if you'd like to discuss this more. Maybe I can fax you some hand sketches to help illustrate our efforts. Scott Corder Past Commodore "Scooter" (former Irish Rose as seen in the S2 brochure) Hull #2, 1983 616-732-3400 616-866-2670 |
