Hi all, New here, and relatively new to sailing and Oday's in particular, so forgive my lack of accurate sailing nomenclature (please correct with proper terms when responding). My brother-in-law recently acquired an Oday 23 which was rather poorly kept. The boat was apparently allowed to fill with water at least 5 inches above the cabin floor. (This O23 is not a pop-top model). So of course the port bulkhead, of which the port-side shroud plate is mounted, absorbed a great deal of water and rotted quite completely. Of course, when he bought the boat (very cheaply) the vinyl, covering the bulkheads, hid this gross flaw. So, innocent of this nasty bit of structural degradation, took the boat out for some fun. Ha! While pressing the boat a bit, to about a 20 degree keel, we heard a loud bang. Ouch, fun time over! We immedietly turned into the wind and lowered the sails. We then noticed the shroud plates on the port side where pulled right up thru the deck. We went below and found the bulkheads ripped up, but the mounting bolts fortunately didn't tear thru the deck. The mast mounting was also intact, and showed no cracks. Now, afterwards, we decided to rebuild both of the bulkheads, starboard and port side. Once we got the old ones out (whew), we carefully inspected the surrounding glass structure. It was tight and had no cracks. Tapping around with a screw driver showed the glass was firm. Thank god. We hand cut and fitted new bulkheads, carefully mimicing the old ones as best as we could since they were nearly totally rotted away. We used cheap luan 1/4" ply to cut and fit as templates for roughly cutting the final ply bulkheads. Using these templates as a guide, I used 1/2" teak Duraply, and hand fitted by trial-and-error new bulkheads. The edges were epoxy sealed three times, and finally two coats primed and three coats painted with oil-based paint. (Sidenote: I would have laid up carbon fiber onto these bulkheads, being an engineer, but it was cost prohibitive for my brother-in-law. Ha!) The new bulkheads fit snugly into the upper support grooves, and the 1/2" space near the bottoms and near the hull where the headliner is was maintained. Amazingly, the teak mast support post was not rotted, even at its base. (Teak is such a wonderful wood.) I am very confident about the fit and proper structural integrity of these bulkheads we made. Engineering is my field. We did add an additional large block (8"x11") on the opposite side of the bulkhead/metal shroud plate for additional frictional/structural reinforcement. It is separately epoxied (prior to painting) and bolted to the bulkhead, then the shroud plate bolts go thru both the bulkhead and this new block. We used 9/16" 2" SAE 5 rated stainless cap screw bolts and nuts. We are about to install these new bulkheads this weekend. My question is what is the best way to seal the holes where the shroud plates pass thru the deck? I understand this is common problem and source of leaks on the Oday 23. It seems obvious to me how to do it, but I would like to hear some opinions and methods in use from other Oday owners before proceeding. Another point is what is the vertical angle the shroud plate is mounted? Is is straight vertical or slightly tilted towards the mast at some angle or maybe the opposite way away from the mast? We couldn't tell since the original mounting position was lost due to the ripping and tearing, and general destruction of the original bulkheads. Any other obsevations, thoughts and suggestions about our repair methods would be welcome. Incidentially, we went over the whole boat, and the hull and decks are in good shape. It appears the laminates are intact (deck and hull); and other than cosmetics the boats seems structurally sound. Thanks, John