O'Day 35 Stanchion Maintenance

[r2poor2fly]

Hey Guys,
This is my first post. My wife and I recently purchased a '89 O'Day 35. I'm getting a little water around the mid ship stanchion base on the port side, which is right above the chain plate bulkhead. In looking to remove and rebed, I can barely touch the nuts on the underside of the deck, much less get a wrench on them. I'm sure there is a secret to getting to the base, so if you know it, can you please share?! I want to get this taken care of before it builds into bigger issues.
Thanks,
Lant
S/V Patti Lynn

 

[njlarry]

Welcome aboard, you have a great boat.
You are right to fix it asap as the leak could cause crevice corrosion on the chain plates as well as other problems.
An impact electric wrench will make the job easier. I have a Bosch 12v that has many boat projects easier. I forget what the area looks like but you may need to cut some of the fiberglass liner. A u joint on the socket will also help.
Look for Maine Sails blog on rebedding hardware tips.
Good luck.

 

[r2poor2fly]

Thanks for your reply, and yes we looked a long time to find our 35 and could not be more pleased with her, tough as nails, steady on her feet, and a really kind sea motion.

I was wondering if cutting back a little of the liner Fiberglas was the way to go. I'd like to add backing plates to all the deck hardware, so access around the liner is going to be key.
Thanks
Lant
S/V Patti Lynn

 

[Sefuller]

I re-cored my side decks on my 34 last winter so I had all the stanchions off - they were a pain to remove due to the poor access and even more difficult to re-install. If you have small hands, you can carve out a small section on the underside of the liner flange sort of out of site but reaching up there to hold the nuts in place is very challenging, especially for the ones over the bulkheads. I finally succumbed and drilled 2 1/2" holes in the face of the liner at each stanchion base which I plan to plug with plastic hole plugs. I made up aluminum backing plates which I planned use on the underside of the deck, but after I re-cored and drilled out the mounting holes slightly oversize (to pot them with epoxy) I got aluminum shavings out of each hole, so apparently there are backing plates laminated in place already.

Scott

 

[r2poor2fly]

What did you use to cut the liner back? I was thinking that a Dremel would be the right choice.

 

[Sefuller]

What did you use to cut the liner back? I was thinking that a Dremel would be the right choice.

I used a hole saw in a drill - a little dusty but more manageable than with a dremel!