Chain Plate Inspection

[view29]

Before I jump in and do something I'll regret..... I'm looking to inspect the chainplates broadly speaking, but more specifically on the starboard side. I had a leak through the starboard port light slider (head), it was leaking long enough that I want to check the chainplate and the structure on that side and see if there's rust etc. (water was coming down into the main cabin through that leak).

Of course I could take it to a boat builder etc, but the bigger question is regarding learning to understand and inspect the structure on ones own boat. In theory, I want to reach a point where I understand my own boat inside and out. So if anyone has experience / advice on inspecting the structure I'll soak that up.

Cheers
Sean

 

[toddster]

It is not possible to inspect the chain plates of the E29, since they are embedded in the hull. People replace them with external chainplates when they chicken out. There are a number of threads and blogs about this.

 

[Sailingfun]

Replace or not replace the chainplate was a very difficult decision on my E27. The embedded chainplate thing does not have any vote from my side but in the end, there are few cases of chainplate fail and I prefer not "go there" for now.
But it's on my list... a shortlist... Another Ericson owner on my marina just replaced and install externally. Labor work was a couple of long days and looks very nice at the end! Not impossible with the right tools and help.

 

[G Kiba]

In my opinion, It looks horrible and with my previous boat (73' E27) replacing the chain plates with externals would be only occur after they failed and only after considering replacing the boat. I owned the boat from 2002-2020 without an incident. You can inspect what's visible and keep out the leaks.