"Drill or not to drill"

[George Fletcher]

I would like to mount deck hardware for a boarding ladder I purchased from West Marine. It requires mounting two "keyholed" stainless steel plates on the deck on both port and starboard decks at the pass through areas in the lifelines.Before I go boring holes in the deck and possibly causing future headaches I would like some advice as to HOW to PROPERLY drill the holes (4 in each plate) to accept a #12/14 screw, and HOW to PROPERLY seal the holes to avoid water penetration of the core.Should I us machine screws or pan head sheet metals? Do I need a backing plate? What do I use to seal the holes so that the deck core does not take on water?I purchased this ladder to avoid the gymnastics of trying to reboard the boat at the fuel dock or pump out. As I get older the freeboard seems to get higher and higher.Any sugestions to keep me out of trouble and to avoid future deck problems would be appreciated.

 

[Steve Dion]

You shouldn't have asked.

George:If you really want to be sure that you do not get and water into the core you should drill through the deck to match your deck fitting. Then I would redrill with a larger drill so the holes could be refilled with epoxy. When this cures you can redrill again and place backing plates on the back. If this was in a place where water would not ever stand I think drilling through the deck and good caulking would be OK. Being that it is on the rail I think that the epoxy and re-drilling would be in order.

 

[George Fletcher]

You shouldn't have asked

Steve, thanks for the quick reply.After drilling the oversized holes would it be advisable to remove any additional core material (1/8" or so) before refiliing the holes with resin?

 

[Steve Dion]

Yep!

George:I would take out enough material to make sure that when you redrill the holes you do not go into the core material. So if you start with a 1/4" - 3/8" hole or whatever and then redrill with something smaller. Of course you will still need some good caulking when you set the brackets.

 

[Russell Grey]

Bon Voyage

Don't take a 3 inch hole saw to the hull while the boat is in the water as a friend of mine tried to do while trying to install a transducer. Boat sank and he is still wondering why it did.