Back in the US of A......

and no, I didn't buy the boat in the picture. I was back in Ireland as my mother passed away on the 30 April, aged 81. Say what you like about the Irish, we do funerals well.

Checked TIH on my return and the masts are at least pointing upwards. Tomorrow its back to boat work ... sort of.

Away from boat renovations for the moment...

Actually 3000 miles away. Back in Ireland for family stuff :-((. No shortage of water but its coming from the sky. As they say "if you can see the mountain its going to rain and if you can't see the mountain, its raining".

Chain Plates progress

The chain plate project has been bugging me for some time. In this era of super chemicals, magic goop etc, there is no excuse for stuff leaking, especially chain plates.

First I has to check out the existing hole through the deck. WBW made a good job at sealing the core where the chain plate passed through the deck.... almost. When the deck was laid up they removed the balsa in the areas where the holes were going to be and filled it in with polyester (or similar) - that's the white bit on the photo below. Unfortunate the location was a bit off and just touched the balsa on the right of the photo, resulting on a tiny amount of balsa damage. No major problem to cut back the skin and refill with epoxy.



Next the plan. I have always believed that when you steal ideas you should steal from the best. Don Casey (boating guru, buy all his books especially his new one, This Old boat (new ed.)) recommends raising the area around the hole to prevent water seeping below. Another smart person "Gary at gizmology.com" came up with a nice way of epoxying the hole. Surprisingly he cut the tube flush with the deck. I just combined both ideas and produced the following.


Make tube by rolling glass tape around a wooden batten covered in wax paper. Cut tube to size. Stick in hole in deck and pour thickened epoxy around.




Re-attach shroud, tension in order to find final resting place of the chain plate, squirt in Sikaflex 291 and paint the area to protect the epoxy. QED.

Mysterious objects.....

These are that pads that are glued to the deck covering the chain plates. They appear to be made of butyl or similar and have held up pretty well in 30 years in the Florida sun. If anyone has ideas they would be greatly appreciated. I plan to bed the chain plates in Sikaflex 291 but I like the idea of raising the surrounding area.

Shiny Stuff....

New chain plates back from the polisher (bad photo, they really are shiny) .


Per chain plate;
316SS = $10,
Water jet cutting = $20,
Polishing = $30.

Knowing that the damn thing should not split in two for a few years = priceless.

Old chain plates



As stated before, intact chain plates are not an optional extra on a sailboat. Even if your mast does not collapse the rest of your trip will be amazingly stressful.

The problem with chain plates is generally one of access. The actual cost of the items themselves and installation is relatively modest, especially when factored over a 10year+ life. The plan on TIH is to leave the chain plates exposed so that no paneling etc. has to be moved in order to replace them.

Incremental improvements...

Aft cabin, port side locker.

But, but it was only $80.......

I did lots of research on what kind of 120v panel I wanted on TIH. Spend hours thinking about the correct idiot proof system and consulting with my electrical "consultant" and then I went to the Dania Marine Flea Market. So much for planning. I am now waiting to be told that I own an $80 garden ornament, destined to sit in a bilge locker until it corrodes away. Still it looks cool.