removing chainplates

[Abby]

Anyone have any experience with removing in-board chainplates? 34' ketch, gaff main, rear starboard main chainplate is bent in a bit at deck level. When we sanded and painted the topsides we did not notice any obvious fasteners for the chainplate- but we were not really looking at that time, either.

We can see the large oak block that must cover the plate on the inside of the boat, up against the hull and between two frames, but have never seen the other sides of the 4 bolts that - which I assume are fastened through the planks...? The bottom three have the nuts on the inside, but the top bolt appears to have been put in the other way around...

Any ideas on how best to proceed before we tear apart the interior?

thanks, Abby

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Just a thought, really.

From your description, I take it that the chainplate fays against the inside of the planking, with an oak block inboard of that.

Very often, these chainplates are hooked over the bilge stringer, which makes them almost impossible to remove - check this before going further!

You will find the outboard heads and nut of the four bolts by either:

(a) looking at the boat early in the morning after a heavy dew or

(b) using a scraper where you think the bolts are to find the stopping over their heads.

Dig the stopping out carefully before attacking the bolt or you will take splinters of planking out with the bolt.

[jonsailr]

If you are looking at the ends of stainless bolts and nuts, you might check their condition sooner rather than later.

I had a 35 year old Carl Alberg designed wooden sloop and had a lower shroud give a mighty "PING!!" on a blustery, windy day, that sound was followed immediately by the slackening of the shroud. 3 (three) 3/8 inch Stainless bolts had disappeared through "crevice crack corrosion". The heads looked great, but deep in the wood there was nothing there.

Mine were buried under 1.5 inch plugs/bungs in the side of the boat.

Jonathan