posted April 12, 2004 09:54 AM            

Cody was kind-enough to send me a 4" inspection port. I'm going to cut a hole in the deck of the foward bow to access the area behind the boweye for a repair.

As you may imagine, I'm nervous about cutting into what seems like a critical structural part of the boat (right behind where the forestay/jib attaches). I figure I need to strike a balance between close-enough to reach in for the repair and far-enough back (to avoid weakening the forepeak).

Anyone ever do this? Any suggestions for how far back to cut the hole? Any idea how far down the bow the wood stem extends?

posted April 12, 2004 01:50 PM            

I really appreciate the advice! Thank you.

I drew a circle on the deck last fall (before the snows set in) as a guess at where I thought I might cut the hole. I'm interested to see how it compares to your 12" and off-center recommendation. I recall thinking that the pitch of the deck at the centerline suggested making the hole off-center but I can't recall where I ended up drawing it.

Do you recall how large a wood block you used? What type of wood?

posted April 17, 2004 10:12 PM            

Cheers,

posted May 10, 2004 11:33 AM            

1) Off-center turns out to have been important advice. There's extra structural reinforcing that runs beneath the centerline of the deck. If I had centered the port (the plan before the good advice given here) I would have cut through it and (I believe) seriously weakened the deck.

2) The wood blocking was completely rotted away. No more than a couple of ounces of wood remained (all so deteriorated I was able to shred it between my fingers). I have no idea why the boweye hadn't pulled through the bow when cranking the boat onto the trailer this past year.

3) Hard to tell how far the wood blocking extended (since little of it remained). I don't think it was more than 8-10" but I'm going to try and replace it with at least 10" if possible.

4) I had to cut away some very thin fiberglass aft of the wood block (that I suspect was simply to hold the wood block temporarily in place during construction). It didn't seem thick-enough to be structural so I'm not planning on replacing it. It was a little difficult to saw it away with only the 4" hole for access.

5) I'm not sure why the wood rotted in the first place. It's seems like it was far-enough from the bilge (although pounding would clearly splash it). I'm wondering if perhaps the plate that secures the foot of the jib (right above) needs to be rebed. I may do that now (since teh nuts will be easier to access before the new wood block goes in). Even if your boweye seems secure, I'd recommend squeezing a little 3M 5200 into any gaps where the threads for the boweye exit the bow. I'm thinking waves coming across the bow probably worked in through those gaps.

6) Some foam flotation is glued to the fiberglass (mostly under the cuddy and cockpit seats). The entire forepeak is empty, however. I'm wondering now whether (and how) I can use a little of that space for storage. I think I remember seeing some sort of hanging bag in a Westmarine catalog that nests underneath the cover of an inspection port. I'm thinking I may be able to at least stow some spare docklines, emergency tools, etc. by hanging them underneath the port.

7) I may stuff a few swim-noodles into the forepeak (to further increase the amount of floatation material).

posted May 10, 2004 10:46 PM            

I would also fill any drilled holes with epoxy and let it dry before sealing around the screw or bolt with the 3M 5200. Again, by doing this, you have sealed the wood entirely, preventing moisture from getting in and causing rot.

posted May 18, 2004 11:08 AM            

90% done.

Jib hardware has been rebed with 3M 5200.

I laminated a replacement block from two pieces of 3/4" teak using epoxy. I think the teak was overkill and if I had to do it again I would have just ordered a block from Cody. I took Darcy's advice and coated the shaped block on all sides with epoxy before bedding it into the bow using 3M 5200 (I figured it would be easier to remove in the future if I didn't use epoxy).

My carving and shaping wasn't perfect. I ended up cutting the wood to about 8" (I was hoping to keep it 10-12"). Despite using the clay trick, there was a 1/4" void between the front of the block and the fiberglass of the bow. I covered the bottom boweye hole with electrical tape and injected epoxy into the void through the upper boweye hole. That seems to have filled the void up nicely.

All that's left is to redrill the boweye holes, set the locknuts, and attach the access plate.