H23 Bow eye backing and structure?

[isaksp00]

I have some fiberglass cracking around the bow eye (U bolt), and the holes have always been a bit large. I took the eye out this season to fix, figuring I'd squeeze West epoxy thickened with structural filler into the holes then redrill.

In cleaning them out (from the outside) with a small screwdriver, bits of soft wood that I assume is balsa core came out - a fair amount. I cleaned the area out as best as I could then injected the epoxy mix, and can see from the inside it filled up to the metal strap backing plate for the eye.

How is this area designed, and where would the balsa core have come from? The metal backing plate does not look stock to me. It is about an inch wide, and extends up from just below the lower stud of the eye up toward the deck - I am wondering if this is also a chain plate for the forestay?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

It has been some time working on that boat. Generally, the bow eye is thru bolted onto the hull at the bow with a long strap on the backside or inside the bow to distribute the load. What generally caused what some refer to whallering, the retaining nuts would come loose or in some cases the boat is being pulled sideways or a combination thereof. It is suggested if trailering a lot to inspect and tighten every 3-5 years depending on how much launching occurs.

If there is any wood or balsa core, it would be in the deck. Can you provide us with some photos for a better response.

 

[isaksp00]

Thanks, Dave. I could take photos, but there is no wood visible from the inside, and the holes are now filled with epoxy/filler. The only thing that would have been worth taking a pic of would have been the wood fragments that came from the holes.
When back at the boat in about a week I can try to get a usable pic of the inside of that area to show the strap or chain plate.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

feel free to copy me at davecondon@mindspring.com as well.

 

[Brian M H23]

I did this on my 23, and if I remember correctly there are two layers here, the deck (anchor locker) and the hull. It appeared that the forestay chainplate was sandwiched in the void, and it seemed (though i'm not 100% sure) that the bow eye passed through the chainplate. I know my chainplate always seemed "loose" when untensioned; my thought was that there was previously a hunk of wood glued in there that would wedge it against the anchor locker, but that was mostly gone on mine

 

[John23883]

You need to reinforce the u-bolt

What I found in my H 26 was a 1/2 inch thick piece of wood as a poor backing plate for the u-bolt. I found this piece of pipe in the metal bin and it fit perfectly and has never allowed the u-bolt to loosen. Don't worry, the rust was on it before I installed it.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

John;

Great photo of that repair. Please keep it for future reference to help others.

 

[isaksp00]

Got to boat today - here is my interior for the bow eye. Eye is removed in this photo. The stringy looking things hanging out from holes are there as I added epoxy to the outside to fair it and wanted to keep track of the holes to re-drill.

 

[Picflight]

The bigger the backing plate is the better it will distribute the force. Have a machinist fabricate a plate that will fit in the u-shaped vertical cavity.

 

[isaksp00]

That is a good suggestion. Does anyone (I am hoping Dave) know what the stock design is as delivered from Hunter?

 

[peptobysmol]

What I found in my H 26 was a 1/2 inch thick piece of wood as a poor backing plate for the u-bolt. I found this piece of pipe in the metal bin and it fit perfectly and has never allowed the u-bolt to loosen. Don't worry, the rust was on it before I installed it.

This very topic was talked about years ago and the consensus easy/best fix was to do this.

 

[isaksp00]

My u-bolt is not long enough to fit through an added pipe like that. I could of course try to find one of the same diameter and longer studs, but these are not easily purchased (in stainless). I will have to make do for now with that metal backing plate and may try to find a longer eye to later do an upgrade. I have survived about 4 seasons on a mooring with what is in place - the only time the glass around it has been cracked was when the yard guys were overly zealous trying to crank it forward while getting it onto the trailer, using the winch strap. This summer it'll be in a slip, and I'll use the bow eye for the bow docklines.