Oday 20 Head stay Chainplate Lifting

[LordNelson]

I finally got the mast up a few days ago and returned to adjust the rigging. I found the head stay chain plate lifting up off the deck.

I crawled up into the bow and it appears the bolts are pulling into the wood blocking. The blocking felt like it could have dry rot, but it was too dark to see.

I know I have to replace the wood blocking but I am concerned with the deck itself. There are some stress cracks around the plate and worry the deck could be rotting if the blocking has dry rot. Would it be enough to just change the blocking and watch it?

The boat is 40 years old this year. I am afraid I may be it's last and the repair would cost more than the boat is worth.

 

[SchwarckT]

I had the same thing happen on my '22. I made up a large resin reinforced backing plate of plywood and used that to hold the stem plate in place. It has held up fine so far. Even if the deck is rotted around the plate, it would be pretty easy and cheap to fix it yourself. When I first stepped the mast on my Mariner (internet purchased) the stem plate nearly came off. The previous owner had somehow torn the plate and a piece of the deck clean off the boat. They then glued the deck/plate back in place and painted over it to hide the damage and sold it to a sucker(me). The deck is solid fiberglass in the Mariner, so all I had to do was fill in the hole with new glass and re-mount the stem plate. At least it was a learning experience.

 

[LordNelson]

how did you reinforce the plywood with resin?

 

[SchwarckT]

I put some Bondo-Glass(polyester resin with fiberglass mixed in) on the plywood, then covered it with some plastic wrap and put a weight on top until it set up. There are other similar products that you could use (Kitty Hair or West Marine Structural Filler).