Tom
Pensacola FL
Boat Name: Elusion
Model/Year: 1987
Hull No. 14020
Hailing Port: |
 01/14/2006 3:46 PM Pacific Time
How do I access the U bolt in the bow to change it and the backing plate? The boat is a second generation C22 with an anchor locker up front. I tried removing the wood panels from the cabin interior. The anchor locker has a small round access port well above the place where the U bolt will need to be disconnected on the inside of the bow. I can not even see the rear of the U bolt to remove the nuts and change it.
Thanks,
Tom
|
Mike Allgood
Boat Name: Family Circus
Model/Year: 1988
Hull No. 14427
Hailing Port: Murfreesboro, TN |
01/15/2006 7:25 AM Pacific Time
Hey Tom,
I had to do this last year. Its a bit of a pain just because of the access issue but is isn't extremely difficult. What I did was cut an access hole at the base of the forward wall of the anchor locker. I've still got a few pictures of this at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/mike_allgood/
You'll notice that I also took out the deck plate that was factory installed. That little 3 inch deck plate just wasn't enough for me to access any thing through. I opened that hole up a bit and install a new Beckson screw in deck plate. I sized it as large as possible to get as much access as possible. In doing so I had to modify the mounting flange by cutting away opposing egdes so that it would fit. I then used 5200 to permanantly mount the deck plate. I think the reason the bow eye backing block on my boat rotted was because water was able to see through the 3" Nicro deck plate and keep the hard wood block saturated.
Good luck.
Mike |
Mike Allgood
Boat Name: Family Circus
Model/Year: 1988
Hull No. 14427
Hailing Port: Murfreesboro, TN |
01/15/2006 7:38 AM Pacific Time
Oh I forgot to mention: I tried to cut the access hole in a way that I was able to re-use the cut out piece to re-plug the hole. I took that piece and ground off the gelcoat. I then ground down the gel coat around the access hole. I alternated several layers of figerglass mat and woven cloth with epoxy resin to create a flat piece of fiberglass that would extend about an inch from the edges of the cut out piece. Before that set up I weted out the ground down face of the cut out piece with epoxy and then mated to two together. Once this cured I had a mounting flange aroung the cut out. I trimmed it down so it would fit, drilled mountin holes around the perimeter, and then marked and drill corrsponding holes in the anchor locker. I used some thickened epoxy to apply around the edges of the cut out to fill the gap between the cut out piece and the anchor locker wall and also bind the flang to the anchor locker wall. Then I screwed it in place and let the epoxy cure. Note: before you put your screws in you will want to coat them with a wax of some sort. I used car wax. This will act like a "mold release" to allow you to remove the screws later. Once the resin cured I remove the screws. Drilled ou the holes. Then filled the holes with thichened epoxy. I was able to use the deck plate access hole above to block the back sides of the holes and make sure they were filled completely.
And that's it. |
Al Gearing
Burleson, Texas
Boat Name: Torch of Freedom
Model/Year: C-22/'76
Hull No. 6448
Hailing Port: Arlington YC |
01/15/2006 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Wow! That seems like a lot more work than I had to do. I think it is fairly easy to get to the back of the bow eye, at least on boats #11000 and lower. The access seems to be adequate in the bow. One boat I worked on had a mirror hung over the opening, gave the Vee berth a lot more room, at least to look at.
Al Ge |
Tom
Pensacola FL
Boat Name: Elusion
Model/Year: 1987
Hull No. 14020
Hailing Port: |
01/15/2006 12:50 PM Pacific Time
Thanks for the information Mike. The pictures in your link are a big help. I see Catalina Direct has a new plastic backing plate to replace the wood item used in the past. I think I will order it to use with the replacement U bolt.
Pensacola Sailing web site:
http://www.att.net/~tmsj21
Fair winds,
Tom |
Mike Allgood
Boat Name: Family Circus
Model/Year: 1988
Hull No. 14427
Hailing Port: Murfreesboro, TN |
01/16/2006 3:56 PM Pacific Time
Hey Al,
The newer style >86 boats have the anchor locker that extends down and blocks access to the bow eye from the cabin, hence the need to cut the access hole.
Tom,
I used the wooden replacement block from CD although I did have to modify it considerably by milling it down to fit. I also over drilled the bolt holes and filled them with thickened epoxy and redrilled. I also covered the entire thing in several layers of epoxy. It should last as long as the boat ever will. I didn't want to have to do that repair again. |
Al Gearing
Burleson, Texas
Boat Name: Torch of Freedom
Model/Year: C-22 '76
Hull No. 6448
Hailing Port: Arlington YC |
01/17/2006 11:50 AM Pacific Time
Mike, thanks for the clarification, I could not understand it before.
Al Ge |
