For these old boats I would not trust the deck structure to support the load. I worked for Bath Iron Works Shipyard and I can tell you the ships do grow and expand with temperature changes, so some flex in the chain plates is more then expected. Also the deck really isn't the right load path to the keel either as the boat is currently designed. In addition the hull doesn't have the right structure designed into it either after I looked at it a bit closer. She is a tough heavy boat, but I think maintaining the chain plates and bulkheads is far easier and safer then trying something out that hasn't been proven on a 40+ year old hull.