Steel Bow Plate

[darmoose]

>> I wire brushed it, painted it with rustoleum and decided it was never sink the boat. <<

So what happens if it fails?

Your rigging falls.

In about 2009 when I was fabricating and installing a new bowsprit on Mystic Rose, I discovered that the bow plate was severely corroded and didn't have a lot of structural strength left. After attempting to remove it for many hours to no avail. I finally set out to come up with another solution.

Since the bowplate holds the foredeck and the bowsprit down, and gets its strength from being attached to the front of the bow by embedding a rebar into the fiberglass, the solution seemed simple enough.

I left the bowplate in place, treated it with Oshpo and sealed it up in roofing sealant. Then I obtained a 1/2"SS threaded rod about three ft long (16,000 lb tensile strength), drilled 1/2" hole in the bow on the center line below the rebar and 1/2" hole in the new bowsprit just forward of the windlass. Bend the rod about 30 degrees and thread it down thru the bowsprit into the locker and then thru the front of the bow. Secure the bottom with a large washer and double nut, secure the top with a 1/2" alum plate on top of the bowsprit and double nut. You can tighten this arrangement as much as you like.. file the ends round and it looks pleasing. Very strong and no more worrying about the rusting bowplate, or your rigging pulling your bowsprit up.

Darrell

[Rebinva]

Sounds like it could be a good idea. Do you have any pictures?

[darmoose]

Sounds like it could be a good idea. Do you have any pictures?

Sorry, I don't have any pictures and I don't own the boat any longer. However, Hilberts second picture in his 8/3/14 post shows the area very well and looks exactly as mine did. He has exposed the lower portion of the rebar by removing the fiberglass. In my case, I cut about 3-4 inches off the bottom of the rebar so I could drill the hole in the bow up higher away from the water line.

Drill hole in front of bow, drill hole in bowsprit, obtain SS threaded rod (about $30.00 and 16,000lb strength). This is strong enough to lift the entire boat and about 2-3 times stronger than the exposed chainplates some are installing on CD's these days.

Bend the rod in the middle (by eye) to a gradual curve so that each end will go perpendicular to the bow and the sprit. I started from the top and fed the rod down into the locker, then from there thru the bow. Place a bent washer (bent to roughly match the curve of the bow) and double nut the the bottom end of the rod. You won't have to cut this end. Now place an aluminum plate on the bowsprit and double nut this end and cut off the excess after you tighten as much as possible. Of course, apply sealant or bedding of your choice.

Since no other component of the supporting rig is as strong as this rod, this should prove to be a lasting remedy.

Darrell

[hilbert]

Today I went out to chip away some more around the bow plate, my third attempt. I thought I would spend a couple hours at it and then move on to something else. I was feeling a little uninspired and I didn't look forward to spending too much time cramped up in a confined space, sweating in a tyvek suit and respirator. To my surprise, the bow plate fell after 20 minutes.

The tools that I used were a Harbor Freight oscillating tool with bi-metal plunge blades, a 2lb hammer and a small flat pry bar. I also did a little drilling with a 1/2" bit around areas that I could not reach with the oscillating tool. All told, it took somewhere between 6 - 8 hours to remove.

Many thanks to both the Far Reach Voyages.com and S/V FeNIX web sites, for documenting that this was doable.

[John Stone]

Outstanding work. IMO, you took a little more time and did it right. Once you craft a replacement you won't have to worry about it again. Make sure you eliminate the source of the water intrusion as well. Well done.

[Jim Walsh]

Nice effort. Well worth it. I'd have a stainless replacement made up but it'll be interesting to see what you decide on. Please provide updates and pictures. Good stuff! Bravo!

[hilbert]

The new backing plate is in. I thought it would take a couple hours to put in place, but I am usually wrong about such things.
My estimated angles for the ribs were off and I ended up sculpturing them with an angle grinder. It took all day to get the proper fit and glass it in.

The scale is difficult to judge in this picture. The ribs are six inches apart:


The red plate is mostly to distribute the load and provide a hard surface to set the bolts.
I added extra structural support to the leading edge with 5 layers of 1708 biaxial cloth folded through a slot back onto itself:


Between the first and second rib will sit a staysail chainplate for a solent stay. The two outer holes are for 3/8" bolts to secure the bowsprit.
The clubfoot jib pedestal is mounted between the second and third rib and again the two outer holes are for 3/8" bolts.


The next step will be to repair the deck. At the bow, empty space had been filled with some kind of putty.
I cleaned it out and filled in the area with thickened epoxy. I will lay new fiberglass over the fore-deck and then glass over the hull deck joint:


This is a small milestone, as I started repairs at the stern and I am now at the bow.

[Ron M.]

Tackling this was one of the initial projects I did. Mine was a bit more deteriorated than the one pictured.
Once all the fittings and hardware were removed the most difficult and dirty part of the job was digging out the rebar imbedded in the bow.
Not much room to work, required light and some ventilation as I used a die grinder to slice a seam either side of the rebar along it's length.
I then used a sharp chisel to cut the remaining fiberglass and free it. Grinder made alot of nasty dust, even encapsulted in tyvek, hood, googles, and respirator it was many showers to get rid of that 'itch'.
Used the old one as a pattern for a stainless steel replacement. That was 10+ years ago. I would likely use G-10 or FRP today.