Handrails and Core

[Tbacon]

Good day, I have several questions that roll up into one. I own a 74 29' Ericson. I attempted to remove the handrails yesterday and was unable to get several of the stainless bolts out. The two at the ends were easy because of the holes going through to the liner, but the ones that are under the liner with no way to access the nuts were less than compliant. I was able to remove all but two on each side. I am wondering if anyone has run across this dilema before and how they resolved the issue. One suggestion was made by the marina owner to mimic the holes on the underside and affix shadowing handrails below deck for when beverages lessen my balance while under sail. The second question is how were the hulls layed on the Ericsons? I have been told that they are a fiberglass shell inside of fiberglass with no wood. I am going to rebed the stanchions too. The po had them off the boat for over a year and I was getting ready to overdrill them and perform the epoxy manuever and was told that it wasn't neccesary on this model due to the fact that there was no wood on the chainplates and they were solid core. I would appreciate someone shedding light on these issues for me. Thanks have a good day.

 

[pmarsha3]

I have a 78 E29. The cabin top is cored with balsa wood. I had the same problem getting the old hand rail bolts out.
<O</O

In order to dry out the area around two bolt holes that were leaking, I drilled one inch holes in the headliner. To make sure I was drilling in the correct spot, I first drilled a pilot hole from the top. The whole job is now finished and I covered the holes in the headliner with one inch plastic plugs that I found in the fastener isle of Home Depot. They look perfect. Now I wish I had taken pictures. Good luck.