We’re discovering that many things installed through the deck are sans backing plates. The dodger was just screwed in, which in my opinion is not solid enough for how much force that dodger experiences. The staysail halyard block was backed with washers, which has rusted into powder because no sealant was used on deck. The bow pulpit backing plates were aluminum, which had so reacted with the stainless bolts in the salty environment of the anchor locker that they had corroded clear in half. We made custom 316 stainless plates for each application. In each case we also cored out the deck, filled the cavity with thickened epoxy, and redrilled for the bolts. In short, we did it the way we were supposed to in order to insure that water never permeates to rot out our cored deck. I’m willing to guess we’ll have many more of these to do–probably every time we open up a new ceiling panel. Much thanks to John Ryan for providing the stainless steel, making our bow pulpit plates for us, and giving us essential advice at every step of the way.
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