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Reinforcing Chainplates

Brian Lowman

Member II
On my E25 that I am refitting, the chainplates have leaked over the years and I am concerned about their strength in relation to the bulkhead.

To repair the problem, I have come up with tow choices and would like other's opinions.

Choice 1,
I will remove the existing chainplates and laminate onto the existing bulkhead (after cleaning it up) an area of at least two square feet of marine plywood (appropriately glued, screwed and varnished). I will then drill new holes thru the deck and bolt the chainplates through the new, wider reinforced bulkhead. (Difficult due to the spacing and quantity of holes to be bored)

Choice 2, Similar to choice one, except the plywood will be laminated below the existing chainplates, additional chainplates will be bolted to the existing ones via a longer bottom bolt, then the new chainplate will be thoroughly bolted through the thicker plywood bulkhead.

Either way would provide the strength I need because the bulkhead below the chainplates appears to be in good condition. Is there an easier way?

Brian Lowman
S/V Gypsy Rose
 

Phil MacFarlane

Member III
chain plates

On my 35 II I installed new steel on the other side of the bulkhead from the existing plates. This steel is as long as will fit so it goes down into good wood. I drilled holes (not easy) with a drill press to line up with existing plates and new holes about the same spacing all the way down. Now where the original plates are the bulkhead is a sandwinch between two steel plate and further down the new longer plates are in good wood. I have about dubled the grip the plates have on the wood. Good luck.
Phil
 

bdubose

Junior Member
Chainplate failure

I had an interesting experience with my E-25 2 years prior to purchase from the previous owner. I was helping heel the boat for bottom cleaning by pulling on the halyard when the starboard chainplate broke in half at the top bulkhead bolt. Needless to say, the boat immediately righted itself and our bottom cleaning session ended prematurely. Fortunately, there was no damage to the spar or rigging. It appeared that this chainplate might have had a microscopic fracture in it dating to manufacture which allowed some corrosion to occur along this fault line. We were probably fortunate that the failure happened when not under sail.

Our bulkhead appears to be in good shape around the chainplates and up top, however, it rotted away on the lower six inches near the bottom. Has anyone else experienced this, and how did they fix it?
P.S. This was a South Florida boat before we bought it. Rot and rust is not as big a problem here in Montana.
Bratton
Bozeman,MT:)
 

Bob in Va

Member III
Wood rot

I found some (about 1" or less) rot in the plywood bulkhead of my E23 when checking it out prior to purchase, but was not real concerned because the chainplates would have to pull out of the plywood much higher up or pull the bulkhead up through the deck for there to be a bulkhead-related failure. However, to be on the safe side I made stainless plates about 4"X4" that sandwich the bulkhead at the bottom and are drilled to accept the original 1/4" bolts, plus 2 new bolts farther up where the wood is sound. This probably serves only to locate the bulkhead against the liner flange, but it does give me peace of mind.
 

Bob in Va

Member III
Crevice corrosion

You might want to check the inside of the angles on the bow strap (chainplate), as I remember a posting describing the loss of a mast due to that strap's failure caused by corrosion at the inside of the bend. You can't check it without removing it, but if you have had one failure of a stainless strap, it might be prudent to check the others. If the boat was in a saltwater environment, double the urgency.
 
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