Bow Eye

[patrickfarley]

I need to replace the bow eye.
It pulled through the first layer of fiberglass and into the wood. The wood is on 1/4 of an inch thick and is 1" wide and 3" tall.
I am thinking of cutting out the outer layer of fiberglass and just filling the space with properly placed layers of fiberglass. I do not understand why they had wood in the placing of the bow eye. The wood rotting over the years is why it failed to maintain proper placement.
Any thoughts?

 

[SteveHughessails]

The bow eye on my Mac 25 pulled out too. Thankfully prior to our purchasing it, fortunately. The previous owner went through and replaced all of the wood under all of the cleats, winches, pulleys etc. all now have HDPE blocks instead of wood. For the bow eye he glassed layers of mat, then attached a HDPE block and glassed that in. I won’t have to worry about it now. We even have a thin sheet attached to the top of the transom under our tiller.
I think the bow eye being pulled out is quite common on many makes.

 

[patrickfarley]

I plan to fiberglass in the bow eye with several layers of fiberglass underneath. I have two large stainless steal washers and two smaller stainless steal washers. If I can find a piece of stainless steal that will cover both holes it will go under the washers. The original washers were pulled through the fiberglass when the wood decayed. My main questions is why did they put in a small chunk of wood? Did did it serve some purpose?

I replaced all of my backings about 10 years ago. They are dry and intact. Some of the bolts have loosened over time. I plan to go and check them all again.

I placed a furniture slider under the tiller. It stops it from rubbing on the boat. When it wears out I will replace it. It has lasted a very long time.

I have another question. What is the kind of tube that is over the keel uphaul line. Mine is clear and flexible. It has been in place for a very long time. I plan to inspect it when I get a chance and replace it if it shows wear.

I plan to have a couple of overnight coastal trips(always in sight of land) this spring. I don't want to sink while sleeping.