Rebedding the Chain Plates #2

#2 - Starboard Side Aft Chain Plate

We had some really heavy rains over the past few days, pretty normal here in South Florida, so today I went down to the boat to check for leaks after completing the Port Side Aft Chain Plate last week. ALL DRY Phew!

Now that I have the process down, I quickly set to on the 2nd chain plate.

The peeling Silicone is pretty bad on this one. The pic is shown after I loosened the Shroud Turnbuckle by 4 turns and removed the Cotter Pin (we call them Split Pins in England) and then pulling out the Clevis Pin to releas the shroud from the Chain Plate Tab.

That all went smoothly.

Here's the Underside showing the Chain Plate from below (ie. Looking up towards the deck from the Cabin seat.)

The Tie Rod, which screws into the Chain Plate was much tighter than the 1st one that I did last week, so I had no choice but to grab the rod with a pipe wrench. After a couple of awkward rotations, it freed and I was able to unscrew it by hand. The Acorn Nuts were easily removed before I took this picture.

Here's the Plate that goes over the Chain Plate Tab, Pretty Crudded! I was able to pry up the plate after pushing the chain plate through the deck by standing on it, ok, just pushing it down with my foot!

The Clevis pin has surface corrosion that I don't expect to need anything more cleaning.

The Screws look ok although, on top, covered with Silicone and below (where they pass through the wood core of the deck) they are shrouded in what looks to be old 3M 5200) 

Looking at the state of this chain plate, compared to the 1st, I'm pretty sure we were just a few rain days away from obvious leaking. 

After removing the Chain Plate from the underside of the deck, there is clear indication of seepage. That brown is actually discolored caulk (probably 3m 5200).

The deck holes are, thankfully, sealed, so there's no damp wood around the Chain Plate where it passes through the deck.

First success, cleaned up the underside. 

I was able to scrape off the old caulking using a Stanley Knife Blade and some chemical de-greaser/cleaner. That stuff is nasty! So I had a fan running to blow the fumes away as I scrapped, washed, and scrapped again, it took about 30 minutes to get it all off.

After cleaning the two Tab Securing Screw Holes with a Drill Bit, I applied Duct Tape under the Tab Holes and then filled the holes with Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure.

Then on the outside I applied Butyl tape over all the holes to keep them water tight until I can reinstall the Chain Plate assembly.

The Plate is really cruddy, I'll have to spend at least an hour working on this one in the Garage. The Deck Screws are just inserted in order to keep everything together for the trip home. I hope to have it cleaned up and inspected by early Monday so that I can reinstall it and start the next one.

FYI, the Starboard side Chain Plates are not so easy to access in the Cabin due to the position of the Cabin Table. On Eximius, it's further complicated because our Cabin Seating around the Table has been raised, that means I have to lay down beneath the Table and Seat, on my back and reach up into the cubbies below the Tie Rods in order to ease the Nut on the end of the Tie Rod - Effectively blind and doing it just by feel alone.

But that just adds a bit of Fun - which is what working on Boats is all about!

Break Time - Need to wait till the Garage is cool enough to work in! Summers can be brutal here in South Florida.

Here's a sped up video of cleaning a chain plate

That's 2 of them cleaned and re-installed. Will work on the others Friday

See you on the Water.

Paul