COMPRESSION REPAIR ON 1998 RHODES 22

This page is a photographic story of the recent repair I did on my '98 Rhodes 22.  I am about the 3rd owner of the boat and I noticed some compression forming between the cabin liner and the top of the bulkhead which separates the cabin from the head.  The cabin top is designed to support the deck-stepped mast and in order to provide easier ingress to the head, the bulkhead does not extend all the way back underneath the mast step.

Notice the wrinkling in the liner above the bulkhead and the crack extending from the corner of the hatch frame.  I have checked the cabin-top deck for integrity and it doesn't flex, has no sign of water intrusion and I can see no obvious reason that this compression should have occurred.  Perhaps a previous owner over-tightened the shrouds and sailed on it awhile is my best guess.

Once the boat was on the trailer this winter, shop personnel used their backs to push the cabin top back into position which was a very slight flex up and then measurements were taken to fabricate a wooden compression post.

New post in position.

You can see in the photo above:  The new compression post extends down from the aft edge of the mast step.  This combined with the cabin top and the bulkhead under the forward portion of the step now provides a very strong base to support the mast.

Also very important was to shim the void created between the bulkhead and the cabin roof as shown above.  Not shown is the fact that I removed the trim and cabin light and shimmed the whole top of the bulk head to the forepeak.   This photo was taken after the light and trim pieces were reinstalled.   Care must be taken in this process because there is a wire bundle which comes up through the bulkhead for the mast lights.  I used door shims to fill the void.

This photo shows the new roughed in post extending down to the floors. 

Here can be seen how the bottom of the post was notched to fit the two floor levels.  This was done to spread the load over several structural members in the two floors.  So I guess we now have a deck-stepped mast with a "keel" support system.

Next step was to cut and install the trim pieces that hide the shims over the bulkhead and to trim out the top of the new post, then staining and varnishing which are in progress in this photo. There is not a trim piece behind the post to allow it to be slipped out when the mast is down if needed.  There is one screw at the bottom of the post securing it to the lower bulkhead-only there to prevent shifting.  The fabricated trim slot and the bottom screw keep the post in position when the mast is down.  The weight of the mast makes it immovable when the mast is stepped.  Notice how straight the cabin roof is now.  I am pleased to report that with the mast plumbed and centered, the hand tight shrouds match correspondingly in tension and length from the chain-plates for the first time since I've owned the boat. (The port shrouds were always a slight bit shorter)

All Done.  Let's go sailing....

Thanks to Fred Schroth of Schroth Fiberglass in Austin, Texas for the post design and cutout.  I did the trimming and finish work.

David Culp