Stanchions

[Daniel]

I'm considering removal of the stanchions to increase the pitch for the winter cover. Has anyone done this? It appears they are bolted rather than bedded to the deck. Your comments please.

[Russ]

I think you're making more work than you gain. Plus you end up with holes in your deck where water can find its way in. THen when you reinstall them, you will need to recaulk and it's probably a 2 man job to hold a wrench underneath.

I have an M, but never found the stanchions to be a problem. I took old hunks of scrap carpet and put them over them to soften where the cover touches. Some snow would accumulate, but it melted right off.

For years, I bent PVC pipe into an upside down U. Works great and never had a problem.

[BOAT]

I cut my stanchions with a pipe cutter leaving a "stump" about 5 inches high, and then I slid a slightly smaller piece of stainless tube of the same grade right inside the cut "stump" of a stanchion and that piece I slid in there is about a foot long so it sticks up about 8 inches out of the "stump". Then I slide the top part of the stanchions that I cut off right back on top of the part it was cut off. You can't even tell they are cut unless you get your eyes like 6 inches away and look real close - I used one of those high quality pipe cutters with the rollers that goes round and round and you tighten the jaw as it goes around. The inner sleeve fits very snug so the stanchions are not wobbly at all - I got the tube at West Marine.

When I first got the boat I did only the starboard stanchions so I could get the boat under the eves of my house when i pull it into my side yard. It worked so good as a way to remove the stanchions that after the 10th time I struggled with raising the mast trying to roll the spreaders over those stanchions I got smart and cut off the stanchions on the port side too! It worked great and makes raising the mast a lot easier.

Having the ability to remove the top half of the stanchions has been a real helpful feature. I guess someday i should take pictures and post them here of the stanchions when they are removed and how the inner sleeves work.

[Herschel]

Wouldn't it be easier to rig some wooden frame to raise the mast a few feet instead of such a drastic dismantling of the stanchions?

[NiceAft]

BOAT,

Do the severed area’s on the tubes create an access point for water?

Ray

[DaveC426913]

Having the ability to remove the top half of the stanchions has been a real helpful feature. I guess someday i should take pictures and post them here of the stanchions when they are removed and how the inner sleeves work.

I am concerned about the issue of defeating such an important standard safety feature. Lifelines are your very last line of defense against crew overboard.

Sure, you may never go over the side and need the lifelines and stanchions to be secure enough to hold your falling weight, but ideally, safety features are never be needed - until they're needed.

What about a crew, possibly unfamiliar with your boat, using the lifeline as a handhold and pulling up instead of down? That would be a surprise for her!

I have no doubt in your mechanical diligence on your boat, but every time such a mod is passed from one owner to the next, I think there's a loss of due diligence due to attrition. After all, the next owner might do it, not because he's as mechanically knowledgeable as you, but because he trusts you.

[BOAT]

The inside of the stanchions are welded to the bottom plate - so even if you filled the stanchion with water it can't travel - in fact - the stanchions get water inside of them even if you don't cut them - the water runs into them because the cables are like pipelines making a steady flow of water into the holes in the top of the stanchions - mine had water inside of them when i cut them open. At least with the tops cut off I can see if there is any water in them and inspect for rust - also, they dry out mush faster.

The stanchions are not wobbly or loose - I grab them all the time - when sailing I often fall down and I have pulled myself back onto the boat many times hanging all my weight on the lifelines because I fell down and started to slide off the deck. The lifelines are tight so it holds the pipes down - when the lifelines are closed you can't pull up on the pipes, they won't move.

The stanchions are also easy to replace - you buy them from BWY and there are holes in the liner where the nuts go that hold the assembly - I have never had trouble with mine - they work great.

If people were worried about the pipes sliding up and off it would be a simple fix to put a bolt thru the pipe - but mine are so snug that it's never been needed.

[Daniel]

OK! OK! I'm convinced. Stanchion remove more then removing bolts. I have used a frame in previous years with less then desired results. As I was the originator to this thread, I will conclude with my thanks for your valued input

[Herschel]

OK! OK! I'm convinced. Stanchion remove more then removing bolts. I have used a frame in previous years with less then desired results. As I was the originator to this thread, I will conclude with my thanks for your valued input

Daniel, good luck with your stanchion mod, but as you will notice, sometimes we strong minded Mac owners (are there any other kind? ) enjoy trading barbs and arguments long after the original poster has gotten what they want and fled the scene of battle on their own post. No, Boat, I am not cutting my stanchions in half; sorry that is just beyond my paygrade and interest.

[Seapup]

Daniel, good luck with your stanchion mod, but as you will notice, sometimes we strong minded Mac owners (are there any other kind? ) enjoy trading barbs and arguments long after the original poster has gotten what they want and fled the scene of battle on their own post. No, Boat, I am not cutting my stanchions in half; sorry that is just beyond my paygrade and interest.

Lol, well put.

Boat, that mod sounds like it would work well the way you executed it. I think separate stanchions and bases are pretty common. They come in a variety of bases, not cheap but could be another option for removal.