How to access the stanchion mounting bolts

[Tomek]

My boat is Hunter 33 2006.
One of the stanchion plates in the middle of the boat became somewhat loose, not the stanchion mounting to the plate but the plate mounting to the deck.
I guess it is mounted to the deck by four bolts and nuts from below, similarly to what i can see for the forward-most stanchion, which can be accessed through the opening over the v-berth. However, access to this one is behind the material covering the sides of the boat from inside. I am looking for suggestions on how to gain access to the stanchion mounting under the deck without ruining the fabric.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

One of the stanchion plates in the middle of the boat became somewhat loose, not the stanchion mounting to the plate but the plate mounting to the deck.

Not looking too good. All stanchion bases and hardware are mounted to threaded & embedded 3/8" Al plates in the FG deck.

Let's see a picture to be sure.

 

[shemandr]

Yeah, pics.
Hunters of that vintage had semi rigid liners - or at least mine did. They could be taken down - carefully with picture with circles and arrows. Fabric is different. Sometimes there are battens for seams which at least gives you a shot at limiting the area of removal. If it is glued you'll prolly end up replacing a section or maybe the whole liner.

 

[Tomek]

Thanks for the your replies.
This project has to wait until spring, now that I hauled out my boat and covered it for the winter. I will revive this thread then. Could not take reasonable pictures, as it was too dark inside the covered boat, and no batteries on board (no light)
For now, I had sealed the stanchion base from the top against leakage. Also, it seems that there is a rigid liner that is screwed to the cabin roof. In the spring will try to remove it and hopefully can access the bolts that must be there. I will report on this in the spring.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Also, it seems that there is a rigid liner that is screwed to the cabin roof. In the spring will try to remove it and hopefully can access the bolts that must be there.

I would most strongly suggest you determine the method of attachment to the deck before doing too much damage on the inside of the boat. I have removed one of the cleats which was afixed to the toe rail and its bolt was definitely threaded through an aluminum plate. I cleaned the threads with a chaser tap before re-attaching the cleat. I believe Hunter Marlow was using this method on deck hardware right up unti their last boat came out of production.

 

[Tomek]

Ralph Johnstone
Thank you for your reply.
On my boat, there are no bolt heads visible on top of the stanchion plate, which is stainless steel, not aluminum. The plate has a short (~2" in length) stainless steel tube welded to it, over which the stanchion is attached with a bolt and nut, going through both, and another screw above it, as seen in the picture attached. So unless there is a bolt inside the tubular part of the stanchion base, there must be some threaded rods welded to the bottom of the stanchion base. The stanchion in question is in the middle of the boat length, but another one, just forward of the mast, looks identical. The mounting of it from inside can be seen, albeit not easily, through the opening over the v-berth, which can be removed. It seems this one is mounted with four nuts on threaded rods that go through the deck. It makes sense since two bolts would likely require additional support for stiffness, like I see in your picture.
In the Spring, i will check if there is any bolt inside the tubular part of the stanchion base, but even if so, I will likely need to get to the bottom part of the mounting (pun intended).

 

[jssailem]

Ok.. Suprisingly not all Hunters boats used the exact same stanchion.,

Here is the link to the one I think you may have.
Stanchion And Base, 24 In, 2004-present

Hunter 33 stanchion and base, 24 in, 2004-present

Hunter 33 stanchion and base, 24 in, 2004-present

shop.sailboatowners.com

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

It seems this one is mounted with four nuts on threaded rods that go through the deck.

Yes, I see. It looks as if you likely have threaded SS rods going through the plate and as you've seen :

It seems this one is mounted with four nuts on threaded rods that go through the deck

The buried and threaded aluminum plate has more than a few disadvantages as opposed to the use of nuts on the protruding bolts. If you do have a bolt come loose for whatever reason, and the SS bolt is galled inside the aluminum plate (about 50/50 chance), you have a nightmare of a job to install nuts on the new SS bolts where they come through.

Just gave myself a slight dose of dyspepsia there thinking about doing that job 10 or so years ago.