I was thinking it would take me an hour to unbolt these two chain plates, pull them, grind down the base, re-bolt them, and re-5200 (seal) them. Ha, That was day before yesterday. I do have stainless covers that fit over them and screw to the deck but they are purely cosmetic.
I ended up re-pulling them again after this picture, mixing up fairing compound and sanding. They are still out of the boat. And I have 10 more chain plates to go :(
The chain plates are in good order however one of the bolts snapped as it had been wet for a few years. This is exactly why I don’t like threw-deck chain plates. I also have a sneaking suspicion the rigger used the old Taiwanese bolts when he put in the new chain plates in about 10 years ago.
After all this work I’ll keep these chain plates for a while. I have 12 of them. I’ll change over to hull strapped ones when its time (three years or so) to pull and inspect these again.
As you can see from the picture the gap in-between the chain plates and the deck needs to be sealed. The chain plates flex allot and this seal is easily broken allowing water (salt) to penetrate the deck and corrode the hidden chain plates and bolts below. They are usually hidden deep in a locker and most people (myself included) tend to forget about them, out of sight out of mind. This is why a lot of rigs come down. I’ve actually seen people re-rig their entire boats and not pull/inspect their chain plates because it was too much of a “pain in the ass”.
Sailboats are really easy things to comprehend if you look at the basics. I get so many emails from people asking me if I think “such & such” is a good cruising boat, or is it a “Blue Water” boat? the truth is the term “blue water” should apply to the attitude of the captain and not the boat. People have rowed across the sea and have cruised on boats made from plastic bottles and rubbish. You can take a new million-dollar cruising boat with bad chain plates, or one bad fitting and it isn’t a “blue water” boat.
It’s taken me a few years to learn how to work with metal, fiberglass, rigging, wood, but if you push yourself to restore a boat before you go cruising as opposed to just buying one ready to go, you’ll be a better and more self-sufficient sailor. I meet many “cruisers” who say “I don’t mind paying people to work on my boat as I travel, that’s why I’ve worked so hard in my life”, but that is exactly the kind of attitude, and why people end up needing to be rescued, bailed out, or they end up not enjoying their cruising experience because its too expensive or they are always broke down.
If your dream has been to get a boat and sail off into the sunset you must realize we must be able to take care of ourselves and take responsibility for our ship and the safety of the people aboard, down to every last screw.
I guess if it was easy everyone would do it eah?
Don’t let the old classic boats in your area wither away and die because they have bad paint or are a bit ugly looking. An old ugly boat might just be the key that sets you free? If you dig around some of your local ship yards you can often find boats for free, or next to free. Learn how to restore them, maintain them, and set sail.
I often think of what I would do if I lost Splendid on a reef. I don’t have insurance and I would sit on a beach with nothing but what I had in my backpack. Truthfully I could find another boat for next to nothing and in a few months be sailing again. They say “knowledge is power”, knowledge is also freedom :)
Anyway, back to wrestling with my chain plates!
Cheers from Linton :)
– Alex