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Bulkhead leak rot

stnick

stnick

lee nicholas
So i found this leak over the 4th, main cabin right next the bulkhead main cabin knee. the upper chain plate had leaked for years and the PO did nothing.
So yesterday i put a screw in the screw gun to the knee bungs and they popped right out !Once removed , I see old wet stains. the bulkhead is soft. i removed the light fixture also.
I'm thinking penetrating resin ? T
he soft is no more than 3in long and 1 inch deep.
Now the chain plate is temp repaired by life caulk from the deck around the chain plate. Its the upper that leaks..Sure wish I understood how to remove and seal under it !
I have been in the head behind the soft wood in the head locker over the head..
Removed the electric outlet and the teak patch behind it ! I see a SS plate !
Are there nuts on the other side of this chain plate for my upper shroud ?
I have some teak skin and am used to teak patching. But its never invisible !
If i ever figure out how to resize pic with this apple I take some pix. Lee
 
Lee - I had a leak that caused some rot in the same place. Turned out to be the head opening port leaking onto the upper fiberglass liner and down the chain plate. FWIW / Dave
 
Lee,

What you identified in the head is a backing plate
Both starboard and port upper internal chainplates are located behind the teak covers to which your settees overhead reading lights are attached. Those internal chainplates are bolted through the partial bulkhead to a backing plate each.

To remove your deck chainplate, you need to remove the teak cover of the light fixture, then you need to remove the bolts that affix the deck chainplate to the inside one.

See attached pictures to show you:
- Behind where it is located
- What an upper inside chainplate looks like


18856.jpg

Location of upper port inside chainplate



18857.jpg

Ex of an inside upper chainplate


I removed all of my deck chainplates when I found out that one had structural cracks. Of the 9 deck chainplates (including the forestay and backstay), only 2 were without structural cracks once removed and closely inspected. I had all of them remade brand new.

As for the inside chainplates, I had the backing plate located in the head re-made as well because like you and Dave, the port leaked.

Cheers
Philippe
 
Philippe , I do not see what you see ! I removed my light fixture on my M 384/ 1982 . I just see more teak now there is a locker behind the light with a shelf it is empty and no sign of SS backing plates.. ??
 
Lee,

Did you remove the teak box that my arrow is pointing to? It is screwed to some wood support. Once removed, it should reveal the chain plate that look like an L (second picture).

Cheers
Philippe
 
Yes I removed the teak light box cut the wires to refinish all the wet wood.
There is no stainless steel plate or nuts on mine. Just teak bulkhead ! Port side..
Lee
I'll take pix and send them to you . my e mail is lhnstnick@verizon.net .
the resizing issue here scares me.I screwed it up before.. Lee
 
Hi Lee,

My email is phboujon@gmail.com.

Ok, here is another picture. It isn't clear sorry, I can't find a good one and I am not at the boat. You can see where the chainplate used to be, behind that teak cover.


18860.jpg


Now, if you don't have anything... well, then I don't know, maybe a previous owner modified the installation but messing up with chainplates is worrying.

Cheers
Philippe
 
Well, speaking of resizing, I forgot to do that one.

Here it is again. Mistakes like that however shouldnt detract us from posting pictures otherwise the purpose of the board is failing.


18866.jpg
 
I have a plan to pull the chain plates !
I have done this this AM.. I discovered that the PO over tightened the upper causing it to pull slightly away from the deck and also the cabin doors would not shut. the hull had been stained.
Its all off now the chain plate the backing plates all of it !
there was not sealant under the chain plate just around the bolts, and one sealant failed.I saw the rust marks.
On the bulkhead i used Git rot and some west syringes. I drilled 1/4 inch holes like 20 of them fill with Git rot than when dry i used west 10 epoxy in a tube.. Wow i love that stuff It just works. over night hard.
I cleaned up all my parts in the work shop and tomorrow i'll try to put them back on.
I have the spinnaker halyard as a temp main shroud. Lee.. thank you all
 
Hey Lee,

Since you already removed the chain plates, and cleaned them up, take the time to inspect them carefully. Don Casey recommend using a dye, but with mine, honestly the naked eye was sufficient for most, and a hobby magnifying glass (used for jewelry making or stamp enthusiasts) for a couple.

As I said, of the 9 deck exterior chainplates, only 2 didn't display visible cracks. Pay attention to the corners, the bents (especially the forestay chainplate), and underneath where water tend to pool. I chose to changed them all. 30 years of marine environment is not possible for stainless steel.

Like you, my chainplates didn't have much sealant. I am planning to re-bed them all with butyl tape. I also built islands of fiberglass to reinforce where they go, and to force water around them (see picture).

Cheers
Philippe


18875.jpg
 
Just a question Philippe, those islands of fiberglass, are they plywood and fiberglass or some other material? Whatever they are made of, the material must be able to stand up to all elements over the years.
Jim
 
Philippe , For your islands I would just cut pieces of fiberglass cloth and stack them. Resin than cloth resin than cloth. So like 5 or six layers thick depending weather ya use just roving or mat .
When dry they can be gel coated and shaped to suit !
I think its a great idea.
You sure do have her torn apart. She is lucky to have a owner who loves her..
 
Hi guys,

Plywood wouldn't have cut it, not with the pressure and force applied to chainplates.

The islands are made of structural fiberglass, 1/4 to 3/8" thick and bedded to the deck using epoxy thickened with hard bonding compound. It took me long enough to cut them even with a carbide blade so I am not concerned about them breaking anything soon.

You can read more about them here:

http://sailing.mcabou.com/2012/03/05/island-fun-not-that-kind-island/

Here are pictures of the deck painted, you can zoom and see the islands for the chainplates as well as for the deck fills and the new nicro and mushroom vents we installed for ventilation.
 
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