CD27 - Headliner lip

[csoule13]

I understand that the interior liner on the CD27 is structural. What about that flange/lip by the hull? At some point in the next few months, I'll likely be rebedding stanchions, etc, and it would be fantastic to have a little better access under there. I recall seeing someone who cut the entire flange out and installed some type of cloth for looks, but at this point, just being able to get a hand under there with less effort would be a Christmas miracle.

Thanks everyone. May your off season chore list be short and full of interesting projects!
Chris

[Steve Laume]

What has led you to "understand" that the liner is structural?

It might add a tiny bit of strength but I believe you could rip the whole thing out and not compromise the integrity of the deck. In other words, it is just for looks. The lip on the liner does add some rigidity to teh edge of the liner. You could chop away at it if you felt that was the only way to rebed the stanchions but you should be able to get to them all with an intact liner. I am not saying it is going to be easy but it should be possible. Cape Dory's one size fits all approach to bolt lengths doesn't make it any easier.

I did all the stanchions on Raven a few years ago along with adding a much longer jib track. The liner did make the job more difficult. The hardest bolts to reach were the ones behind the galley cabinets and you probably aren't going to start chopping them out to reach the bolts. You might shed some blood and utter some words that should not be said in the presence of a child but you can get at all the bolts. The stanchions were installed after the deck was set in place so it is possible to get to them, Steve.

[John Ring]

I think Steve's right about the non structural nature of the liner, and the liner's lip just served as a stiffener during assembly to help keep the liner from cracking on the way in. When I had my CD28 years ago, I cut small sections of the lip out directly under each stanchion, no problem. Then I covered the cut outs with a small piece of teak, forming an access plate for each one in the future.

And yeah, be prepared to find extra long screws securing the stanchions, with many bolts poorly aligned around the hull flange. I find the same thing on my CD36, and ended up cutting away excess mishmash adhesive and fitting in g10 spacers to get the inboard bolts to sit right along the inboard edge of the hull deck joint. It' a little work, but well worth doing.

John Ring
CD36 Tiara

[csoule13]

Thanks gents, love the idea of the teak access plates. It'll be a fun winter finding out what mysteries are under there.

[Keith]

I used hand crafted g10 spacers as well to level out the mounting of the station and other bolts.

Keith