My boat showed faint signs of rust, heaviest on the deck and a faint rust stain on the hull in the vicinity of the forward port lower shroud.
Last year I replaced it. The problem is of course not the chainplates at all but the backing plates installed at Halmatic inside the hatframes when the hull was laid up. Halmatic made the mistake of making these backing plates out of mild steel.
I was confused about how the hatframe and steel were built, I imagined some steel hatframe shaped thing glassed into the hull. Thank goodness it is much simpler than that and quite easy to replace. In performing this repair I believe I also discovered how the water gets into the backing plate.
The hat frame are all fiberglass, hollow extending from the deck to a foot or so in length depending on which one. This hatframes are glassed into the hull with several layers extending well away from the hatframe, they distribute the rigging loads well and have been used in other boats.
The SS chainplates are merely bolted through the hatframes and into the simple backing plates inside, the real culprits.
It took longer to remove the ceiling in the veeberth and replace it than it did to make the repair. Some will be harder to get to but you only need access to one side and the inboard face(chainplate side)Here's how it went:
A few starter holes with a twist bit made a slot large enough to fit a medium cut sawzall blade into. Cutting a slot in the side, slowly enlarging it, I could see the rusted backing plate. The slot in the side of the hatframe was less than an inch wide, keep it as small as possible. Leave the flat side(chain plate side) alone so as not to change much. With a screw driver I pried the old backing plate out, took it to a local metal shop and had it copied and threaded out of SS. It can be rough, I think it cost 20.00.
Back in it went, chainplate bolted to it, surrounding glass ground down and a few layers of glass tape and epoxy to build it to it's original thickness. I used an adhesive to mount the backing plate which enabled me to remove the chain plate when it was set. Some glass went back over the inboard face of the hatframe as well.
When the frame was open, with a mirror and flashlight, I could see that unlike the rest of the hull to deck joint, this area inside is of course not glass together. They couldn't do that because the deck went over the hatframes and closed them up. Any water finding it's way through a screw hole from the toe rail inside or near the hatframe can find it's way in. There it pools in the bottom of the hatframe. Weep holes may carry it away but as they begin to rust, a sodden bed of rust soaks up the water to really let it do it work. Weep holes should be larger than most, even 3/8" to allow drainage even with rust residue in the bottom.
I have one showing alittle rust at the cove stripe on a mizzen shroud. All in all a fairly easy repair, these are easy as access is easy.
I had JPEGs of this repair and would gladly send them to anyone intersted.
Last year I replaced it. The problem is of course not the chainplates at all but the backing plates installed at Halmatic inside the hatframes when the hull was laid up. Halmatic made the mistake of making these backing plates out of mild steel.
I was confused about how the hatframe and steel were built, I imagined some steel hatframe shaped thing glassed into the hull. Thank goodness it is much simpler than that and quite easy to replace. In performing this repair I believe I also discovered how the water gets into the backing plate.
The hat frame are all fiberglass, hollow extending from the deck to a foot or so in length depending on which one. This hatframes are glassed into the hull with several layers extending well away from the hatframe, they distribute the rigging loads well and have been used in other boats.
The SS chainplates are merely bolted through the hatframes and into the simple backing plates inside, the real culprits.
It took longer to remove the ceiling in the veeberth and replace it than it did to make the repair. Some will be harder to get to but you only need access to one side and the inboard face(chainplate side)Here's how it went:
A few starter holes with a twist bit made a slot large enough to fit a medium cut sawzall blade into. Cutting a slot in the side, slowly enlarging it, I could see the rusted backing plate. The slot in the side of the hatframe was less than an inch wide, keep it as small as possible. Leave the flat side(chain plate side) alone so as not to change much. With a screw driver I pried the old backing plate out, took it to a local metal shop and had it copied and threaded out of SS. It can be rough, I think it cost 20.00.
Back in it went, chainplate bolted to it, surrounding glass ground down and a few layers of glass tape and epoxy to build it to it's original thickness. I used an adhesive to mount the backing plate which enabled me to remove the chain plate when it was set. Some glass went back over the inboard face of the hatframe as well.
When the frame was open, with a mirror and flashlight, I could see that unlike the rest of the hull to deck joint, this area inside is of course not glass together. They couldn't do that because the deck went over the hatframes and closed them up. Any water finding it's way through a screw hole from the toe rail inside or near the hatframe can find it's way in. There it pools in the bottom of the hatframe. Weep holes may carry it away but as they begin to rust, a sodden bed of rust soaks up the water to really let it do it work. Weep holes should be larger than most, even 3/8" to allow drainage even with rust residue in the bottom.
I have one showing alittle rust at the cove stripe on a mizzen shroud. All in all a fairly easy repair, these are easy as access is easy.
I had JPEGs of this repair and would gladly send them to anyone intersted.
