Chain plates

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Thought that some of you guys on the forum might want to know that I had a chain plate fracture just before the start of a race on 4/21/01. It was the port side upper on my E27, and the top of the mast sagged off something awful before we got the sails down and, using the main halyard, got the top of the mast stabalized by attaching the main halyard to a stanchion base.
The chain plate fractured because, it is my opinion, of water intrusion. I could see the corrosion at the break. This weakening had been going on for some time. The mast, once pulled out of the boat, was declared a gonner. New mast is about five weeks away.
I think it was my own lack of perception or maintenance skills that led to this folly, so I thought I'd go on record here to find out what it the best way to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I will, of course, have all the chain plates checked over carefully, but my memory of things is that the chain plates are glassed in. Is that so? And what is your take on this? How could it have better been avoided? I am not sensitive.

Morgan Stinemetz

 

[Billk]

Morgan,
The chain plates on the E-27's were glassed in. This gives neat appearance, but no way to remove them for inspection. The only way to inspect them would be rip/grind off the layers of glass holding them in. This is something I'll bet most of us have not done.
Where did your chain plate break? Was this below deck level
where it is glassed in?
Bill Kramer

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Bill,

Yeah, it let go well below deck level. The chain plate was black where it had corroded, and it literally ripped apart from the rigging loads. The jagged edge of the chain plate shows that tensile forces were at work.

I believe that it was one of the people on the Ericson list that said that he bedded his chain plates with new stuff (5200?)a couple of times a year. Sounds like a good idea to me.

I have not been by the boat since I reported the chain plate problem to the yard, but I know they have yanked the mast out of the boat, condemned it and ordered a new one. The people whom I deal with at this yard are the very best. I have never once--NOT EVER--gone in a direction contrary to their suggestions, and I have never been disappointed. These are the kind of boat yard people boaters pray they will find. The job will be done when it is done. It will cost what it costs, which will be fair. And it will be perfect.

I know I digress here, but after my boat was T-boned by another sailboat in a port/starboard situation--I was on starboard--and the damage was fixed, I asked the guy who runs the yard how much it would cost to have the boat painted with polyurethane (sp?) paint. He said $1,500. I told him to go ahead. Boat was out of the water, in a shed, and the time seemed ripe. I would have to pay for the paint job, I knew, but the haul out and the other stuff was going to be on the other guy's insurance company. Anyway, a couple of days later the boat yard owner came back to me and said that they had decided to paint it with Awlgrip. Same price. That is the kind of people they are. I love them dearly.

When I go over to work on the boat today I will take a hard look at the situation on the other chain plates. If they have to be routed out with a cut off wheel and examined, then this is the place to get it done.

Thanks for the input.

Morgan Stinemetz

 

[Bill Sanborn]

Thanks for posting your chainplate problem.

When you get a chance, could you claify the position of the failure in relation to where it was glassed into the hull?

Since stainless steel is subject to crevice corrision where not exposed to air I wonder if spraying the chainplates above the fiberglass with a water displacment spray like WD-40 would remove any moisture in this area and prevent further corrision. Is it possible that WD-40 would "creep" into the bonding between the chainplate and hull and actually weaken the bond.

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Bill,

I don't know much about how the chain plates are put in, though I have had the panel off enough times looking for leaks. When I got over to the boat yesterday, the boom and mainsail had been stored on the port side, so I was not able to geto to the panel with the time I had available. I will discuss with the boat yard folks what is the best course of action. They know everything. And I'll keep you all informed.

Morgan Stinemetz

 

[bigd14]

Ancient post!

I know this is an ancient post, but Morgan, what did the yard end up doing to replace your broken chainplate?

Thanks!

Doug

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Broken chainplate

The yard put in a new one and this one is bolted right through the hull. The yard is so good that I never think twice about what they do. If they do it, it's necessary and correctly done. There's a great deal of peace of mind in that.

Morgan

 

[bigd14]

Hi Morgan- Would you happen to have a photo of the replacement chainplate installation? What I am doing would essentially be the same repair but on all 6 chainplates which I would have cut off. Any pics would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Doug

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

I didn't do the work; the yard did. No photos. Sorry.

Morgan