Hunter 1987 26.5 chainplate fix

[Landfall88]

Recently bought our first sailboat a hunter 26.5. After some research on common repairs the chain plates seem to be a frequent culprit for rot/water intrusion. Noticed the laminate wood around ours is soft in spots with signs of water damage but the raised block the plate is on is solid. Looking for advice on if anyone has done this repair to the bulkhead/chainplate?

 

[kappykaplan]

I don't have a Hunter, but it seems to me that the screws in the raised block likely go into the laminate wood. Looks like you have some bulkhead and chainplate repairs in your future. Welcome to the forum!

 

[jssailem]

Welcome to the Forum. Congrats on your new boat.

You are looking at one side of the issue. Try to post an image of the chainplate cover on the outside. It may provide a clue to your challenge. Your boat is 38 years old. It is time to look at chainplates and all of your standing rigging. Boat rigging is not warranted for life. If it is original, it may be showing its age. The water stains may be just an early indication that your boat wants more attention.

 

[Landfall88]

Ty! Yes she needs some tlc. The topside doesn’t look terrible visually. There are some cracks in the gelcoat you can’t see in these images but not bad. Don’t mind that wasp nest

 

[jssailem]

The turnbuckle with the wasp nest looks funny in your picture. Might be the photo angle. Maybe the T fitting is cracked/bent. The bottom threaded section is not the same as the opposite side. Usually the turnbuckles are similar both port and starboard.

 

[LuckyDuck]

I just discovered a similar issue on our Catalina 25. My chainplate setup is slightly different, anchoring to the bulkhead with four bolts. The bottom two were fine (solid bulkhead wood) but the wood around the top two was soft. The worst intrusion and rot was above a cutout where the PO had installed a radio.

After quite a bit of research, an experienced sailor buddy agreed that I didn’t need (or want) to replace the entire bulkhead. Instead, we thoroughly cleaned out the rotted wood on the head side, leaving a thin veneer on the cabin side of the bulkhead. We then epoxied in two clean pieces of ply. We reamed out and filled the two “soft” holes with epoxy, also. When the rain stops, we’ll go out and drill new holes and rebolt it, finish off the rough spots and do a little stain touch up.

It may not be pretty, but the worst part is on the head side and mostly unnoticeable. And it is strong as heck. Lastly we’ll rebed the chainplates, which I obviously should have done sooner.

 

[Landfall88]

@LuckyDuck Thanks for the info and pics! Complete novice here so I’m gathering as much info as possible. Did you take down your mast or use a temporary shroud?

 

[LuckyDuck]

@LuckyDuck Thanks for the info and pics! Complete novice here so I’m gathering as much info as possible. Did you take down your mast or use a temporary shroud?

Welcome! This was new to me, but my buddy has done plenty of these fixes. Temporary, using the jib halyard tightened up real good. Replacing the entire port bulkhead would have meant mast removal and taking out the compression post in the cabin, I’m told.