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Hello everyone. I purchased a boat which had some hurricane damage. The biggest repair is that the bow pulpit came down hard on a fixed dock and ripped the front two mounts up, taking fiberglass around it with it. I plan to make rectangular stainless plates to go under the deck as a backer plate, and epoxy them into place. I can then lay my fiberglass on top and match up with the top deck, put the bow pulpit in place, mark and drill the new holes. I have a '99 26x, and there are no access covers in order to get to all of the hardware under the deck. I have two options. I can thread a bolt in the center of the backer plates, pre-epoxy the plates and underside of the deck, slide the plates down into the hole, and use the bolt, which is sticking up a few inches to clamp to in order to hold it tight up against the bottom of the deck while the epoxy cures. I would have to tap the plate in order to mount the pulpit since I won't have access under the deck for nuts. 2nd option, I can cut access holes from inside the boat and do it that way. The downside is now I will have access covers visible, but the upside is that I can use nuts on the mounting bolts, as well as check/reinforce the bow cleats, check the anchor locker drain hose and replace, if needed. What are your thoughts?

I don't claim to be an authority on fiberglass repair, so I won't touch that subject. I do question using an epoxy.

There is a lot of flex in a fiberglass boat, and a cured epoxy is brittle. I would consider using 5200 instead. It will be as sturdy as an epoxy, but will not crack with any of the stresses placed upon it. This may be over concern for the final result, but, I feel that the 5200 is a better choice.

NiceAft wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:39 am I don't claim to be an authority on fiberglass repair, so I won't touch that subject. I do question using an epoxy.

There is a lot of flex in a fiberglass boat, and a cured epoxy is brittle. I would consider using 5200 instead. It will be as sturdy as an epoxy, but will not crack with any of the stresses placed upon it. This may be over concern for the final result, but, I feel that the 5200 is a better choice.

The epoxy really only needs to hold the plate into place until the fiberglass cures and the pulpit is mounted, which then will forever hold the plate tightly into place (hopefully) up against the bottom of the deck. I have west systems marine epoxy, with filler, it's amazing stuff. I think with the underside of the deck being raw, the epoxy should grab hard, and such a small area, so it shouldn't flex. I don't think it will be a problem. I will be getting some 5200 though for another repair on the boat, I will look further into which to use.

5200 is for repairs which you will never remove, what ever is being held.

If you suspect that sometime in the future you will need to unstick what you put together, use 4200.

I have a 2002 26x. In the bow, I have installed (1) a potable water inlet, (2) installed and later removed the Blue Water Yachts bow roller, (3) a long heavy duty bow roller suitable for holding an anchor and (4) a chain lock. I was able to do all except the chain lock from the underside. Obviously some of this requires two people, one inside and one outside.

For the chain lock, I installed a 3-inch stainless access plate in the wall of the anchor locker. I don't fully understand the damage you're repairing (you said: "the front two mounts," a photo would be helpful), but it seems possible you might access this by cutting a hole in the wall of the chain locker rather than going in through the inside of the boat. Cutting access holes through the inside of the boat will probably require you to go through multiple layers of fiberglass.

Suggested if you post a photo or two, you might get better feedback. Best of luck!

rsvpasap wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:41 am I have a 2002 26x. In the bow, I have installed (1) a potable water inlet, (2) installed and later removed the Blue Water Yachts bow roller, (3) a long heavy duty bow roller suitable for holding an anchor and (4) a chain lock. I was able to do all except the chain lock from the underside. Obviously some of this requires two people, one inside and one outside.
For the chain lock, I installed a 3-inch stainless access plate in the wall of the anchor locker. I don't fully understand the damage you're repairing (you said: "the front two mounts," a photo would be helpful), but it seems possible you might access this by cutting a hole in the wall of the chain locker rather than going in through the inside of the boat. Cutting access holes through the inside of the boat will probably require you to go through multiple layers of fiberglass.

Thanks for the photos. I like the anchor roller, I may go this route in the future. I'll post some photos of the damage. From my research, it's only the cabin layer of finished glass, a bunch of foam, then the deck, so it should be pretty straight forward. If I'm going to add anything to the bow anyway in the future, I guess just going with access panels might be okay, just hate to cut holes in the boat.

As per your original post, your first method is probably better than your second. I think you will find the anchor locker walls get in the way of accessing this through the bow flotation enclosure inside the boat. It seems like the second method will result in having to install multiple inspection hatches.

rsvpasap wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:08 am As per your original post, your first method is probably better than your second. I think you will find the anchor locker walls get in the way of accessing this through the bow flotation enclosure inside the boat. It seems like the second method will result in having to install multiple inspection hatches.

If one item, such as the anchor drain hose or the cleats leak, I would have to cut into there in order to access the nuts. Maybe just make the repairs without cutting access holes and keep my fingers crossed that nothing will leak and need removed? I don't know, I just really hate the idea of cutting access holes.

You must trust your structural fiberglass work far better than I would trust mine. Please keep the pictures coming as you build progresses. I'd really like to learn how you do it.

Inquisitor wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:18 pm You must trust your structural fiberglass work far better than I would trust mine. Please keep the pictures coming as you build progresses. I'd really like to learn how you do it.

I think it will be fine. I don't have much experience, other than our older Four Winns speedboat had weak spots in the floor and around the fuel tank, centered in the boat. We ripped up all of the old plywood floor completely and rebuilt from scratch, then glassed over the entire thing, and it has been rock solid since. It actually wasn't too hard. some of the inner/outer corners were a bit challenging, but not too bad. I will try to document as best I can.

SlowSL wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:29 pm I think it will be fine. I don't have much experience, other than our older Four Winns speedboat had weak spots in the floor and around the fuel tank, centered in the boat. We ripped up all of the old plywood floor completely and rebuilt from scratch, then glassed over the entire thing, and it has been rock solid since. It actually wasn't too hard. some of the inner/outer corners were a bit challenging, but not too bad. I will try to document as best I can.

It was more of an assessment of my own fiberglass skills. Seeing how much is tied up there between foresail loads, anchor loads, wave loads, someone trying to hang on to the pulpit for their dear life loads it would give me pause. I'm sure you'll be fine... That looks to be chopped fiber in polyester. If you're doing cloth/roving in epoxy, you've got an order of magnitude better strength properties than what they used.

Good luck!

Inq

Hi SlowSL!

How goes the repairs?
We were just wondering and hoping that all has been done, sanded, painted and bolted back in place.


Best Regards
Over Easy
fudt

I actually forgot about this thread. I made a new one to document the entire process start to finish. There is a good amount of detail and some pics of the process. It turned out better than expected.

viewtopic.php?t=28409

Hi SlowSL!

That’s FANTASTIC!
Glad that it worked out!
Congratulations!

Best Regards
Over Easy
fudt