Cat-30 Stanchion Repair

[fhujber]

There is severe cracking on my 1988 Catalina 30 around the mid-ship stanchion, starboard side. I'm about to remove it, repair the cracks, and reinstall. Can anyone tell me what's underneath?
1) I've heard there may be an aluminum plate embedded in the deck. Can anyone confirm?
2) The screws do not go through the deck. I'd like to replace the existing screws and go through the deck and a backing plate, but any through-drilling will be exploratory (and hence a little scary). Can anyone give guidance on how close to the hull joint that's likely to be?
The stanchion base appears to have only two screws, which seems odd.
Thanks!

 

[JamesG161]

Use Butyl Tape found here.

***Buy Bed-It Butyl Tape*** by Compass Marine How Tos

Will seal the screws.

Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

This is the "How To" part

Re-Bedding Deck Hardware With Bed-It Tape by Compass Marine How To

 

[Joe]

You should be able to at least see the brace's two nuts under the deck. I would concentrate on reinforcing that part.... assuming you'll have access. However, before you do anything, call Garhaurer Marine to discuss your situation. Over the years they have provided OEM and retro fitted hardware for Catalina sailboats. They are able to fill custom requests. You might get lucky and find they can redesign that funky base bracket to something a bit more robust. They built a replacement set of upgraded stanchions for me a few years back... at a very good price I should add. It's worth a phone call, for sure.

 

[George Da Porge]

I have a different stanchion base (see pic). The stanchion itself has 3/4" threaded rod attached to it - this goes through the deck and is secured with a nut/washers. No backing and no plates embedded in the edge. The bracket base is also bolted through the deck. No backing other than washers. 2 years ago I removed them all, enlarged the "cavity" between the deck skins, fill with somewhat thickened epoxy, then drilled new bolt holes. Used butyl rubber under the pads on the deck. If you haven't started this project yet, here is what I encountered (maybe it will help/maybe not):
1) At some locations, including the one you are speaking of, it was very difficult to get to the nuts. Both the 3/4" nut and 1/4" nuts.
2) You'll want to remove the settee shelves and the panel board.
3) In order to access the 3/4" nut, I did have to grind away some of the top of the hull (inside). My assumption is that, when built, the stanchions are mounted to the deck before the deck is connected to the hull. The location of the side of the hull in relation to the deck varies a little at each stanchion.
4) If I could get them in place, I did install fender washers against the underside, with regular and lock washer beneath the nut. I pretty confident with their stability. I think the stanchion itself would bend before the deck would be damaged (especially with the additional epoxy core at the bolt holes.
5) Starboard side was a pain in the butt. Port side easier. At the electrical panel, I had to cut holes in the fiberglass that holds the teak trim in order to access the nuts.

Hope this helps.

BTW - the pic was taken before we purchased the boat. The cleat was removed and the gunwale repaired before we took ownership. Lousy place for a cleat. No backing and I would say almost impossible to put decent backing at that location.

 

[jssailem]

George.. That looks like a stanchion with a single bolt that runs down through the gunnel. You could confirm if you find a nut with a washer when you look up at the bottom of the deck joint from inside the boat The screws look to be only to stabilize the stanchion. Unless the screws are well sealed they will be a source of water intrusion and likely weaken/soften the deck.

Best approach when dealing with a loose stanchion is to remove it. deal with any damage involving the glass. Prepare the area to be water tight and then reinstall the stanchion. This may have been done when the cleat and glass was repaired. They may not have tightened the stanchion back properly.

 

[George Da Porge]

Hey John - I did remove and reinstall all of the stanchions. Enlarged holes between skins, filled with epoxy, redrilled holes - core sealed. Butyl rubber for sealant.

 

[jmaitz]

Glad I’m not the only one messing around with toe rail / stanchion repairs this year! Ended up having to cut out access points to remove nuts. These will be covered by the interior trim. From there, I dermal’d out all of the rotted bits and epoxied the repair. After a single coat of gel, I re-drilled the larger hole for the main post only to discover it the smaller bolt holes did not line up. Re-glassing the mistake and starting over. Will likely build a jig as I have the same to do on the starboard side as well.

 

[George Da Porge]

jmaitz - I've been away from this forum for a bit. May be late to the game with your repair. I also had to cut some access to get to the bolts (mainly starboard side), and I did remove the trim panel against the hull. The worst part was the gate stanchion on the starboard side, over the electrical panel. One thing - be careful of position of the gate stanchion - I must have moved the starboard one just enough forward that it made it difficult to for the gate lifelines to close - ended up putting a clevis on each anchor to make the reach.