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What is the name, and purpose of this part for E35-2 for all you Ericson Savvy Sailors

LeifThor

Member III
It's a chainplate to nowhere. Mounted to the main bulkhead of the E35-2, while on the deck it does nothing.

What is it, and what purpose does it serve?

I had previously thought it was the place where the original lower shrouds went, but was recently told this chainplate to nowhere serves a purpose. As always the longer and more detailed descriptions are the most appreciated:)

Thanks!
 

LeifThor

Member III
Unfortunately I don't. A prior owner had removed them leaving the holes and water damage behind. The holes where this went, and is found on E35s is approximately 16 inches towards the interior from the upper shroud chainplate on the same bulkhead.
 

p.gazibara

Member III
I just tore out the inner liner of my E35-2. Found some holes on deck that were covered in treadmaster and filled with some sort of 5200. Part of the elusive leak problem. I think the holes were from an old cabin-top winch placement.

Were the chainplates you speak of on the cabin-top or sidedeck? I didn’t see any evidence of a chainplate on the main bulkhead cabin-top.

Maybe it was an add-on at some point?

-P
 

steven

Sustaining Member
The mystery "chainplate" on the E35-2 is a small ss plate on the deck that is in a fore-aft line between the fwd and aft lowers.
Below deck It has a ss bar that straps to a bulkhead at the front of the main cabin.

Reasonable to suppose that it is not a chainplate but instead part of a three point system which anchors the lowers.

The concern would be that the combined forces on the fore and aft lowers would pull the deck up and separate it from the bulkheads.
I think the mystery plate is there to help prevent that.

Could be wrong but seems reasonable (to me).

--Steve
 
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steven

Sustaining Member
Here is a pic port side looking fwd.

The mystery fitting is in the middle of the lower chain plates.

The anchoring of the aft shroud is questionable. It is bolted strongly to the deck and cabin side. But below the deck fitting is just floating in the middle of nowhere (structurally). On some boats (the E37 I think) there is an inside tie rod that connects to something structural. But on the E35-2 an inside tie rod would be in the way.

The closest structure is the bulkhead that is right bellow and anchoring the mystery fitting.
Hence my theory that it is there to help keep the aft shroud from lifting the deck.

1602265679717.jpeg
 
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garryh

Member III
there was a previous discussion on this mystery plate, best guess is that it is a deck tie-down vs some arcane rigging assembly. seems to make the most sense. You will notice that the chainpalte for the forward lowers has a horizontal plate welded to it. I originally thought this was dumb because it would be so difficult to seal; but upon reconsideration, I am thinking the plate serves the same tie down function as the one aft of the lowers.
 

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  • E35-2 chainplate- forward lowers.jpg
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garryh

Member III
"serves the same tie down function as the one aft of the lowers."
not 'aft of the lowers'... typed that too quickly. Meant the plate shown in steven's pic above... it is inside the main shroud anchoring the deck to the main bulkhead.
 

LeifThor

Member III
Here is a pic port side looking fwd.

The mystery fitting is in the middle of the lower chain plates.

The anchoring of the aft shroud is questionable. It is bolted strongly to the deck and cabin side. But below the deck fitting is just floating in the middle of nowhere (structurally). On some boats (the E37 I think) there is an inside tie rod that connects to something structural. But on the E35-2 an inside tie rod would be in the way.

The closest structure is the bulkhead that is right bellow and anchoring the mystery fitting.
Hence my theory that it is there to help keep the aft shroud from lifting the deck.

View attachment 35707
Thanks for the information! Another friend with an E35-2 said the same but no matter how I looked at it, it didn't make any sense that it should keep the deck from lifting up. But the way you descriibed it it made sense to me finally. I'm curious though as on my starboard side, there's no room for this plate as there's the inlaid box/shelf all the 35-2s have. On both sides I have the holes in the deck for this chainplate, but no obvious holes on the bulkhead on the inside on the starboard side, and I replaced the bulkhead where it would have had the holes exactly as the original was, and there's just no room, as it would run into the frame of the inlaid box/shelf. When I bought the boat, both pieces were missing (yet holes on deck there), and I found one of the two finally, but only 1.
 

garryh

Member III
have to admit I found it a bit difficult to follow all that : )
But here is a pic of mine... totally rotted out. The trim for the box had holes drilled in it to accommodate the heads of the bolts (actually just one bolt on that side as I recall, going to attacch a cross plate from that one bolt to give it more bite on the bulkhead)
 

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  • 6. Rot at deck tie down.JPG
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LeifThor

Member III
have to admit I found it a bit difficult to follow all that : )
But here is a pic of mine... totally rotted out. The trim for the box had holes drilled in it to accommodate the heads of the bolts (actually just one bolt on that side as I recall, going to attacch a cross plate from that one bolt to give it more bite on the bulkhead)
One thing I learned
 

LeifThor

Member III
Thanks for sharing your experience for what Ericson did on the starboard piece. It sure is an odd solution they had.

While replacing sections of the bulkheads, I learned the hardwood ply is NOT marine ply so if there’s water damage, and there’s delamination, they’ll need to be replaced. When delaminated they don’t look bad appearance wise but structurally they’re no good. It was a shell shock but glad I discovered it in slip instead of out there. Due to the water damage in your photo, you may want to remove the chainplate and inspect the ply.
 

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  • B642B0DD-AFCC-43DA-A9F5-E888A29B036A.jpeg
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steven

Sustaining Member
More on the subject of the mystery chain plate fitting bulkhead strap on the E35-2.

On the port side, I am now almost finished fixing the rot in the bolt holes and replacing the washers on three 3/8" bolts with a single ss backing plate.

But as alluded to in others' posts, the starb side has only one bolt. The place on the bulkhead where the other bolts would go is cut out for a storage shelf.

So what to do ? just epoxy repair the wood rot and replace the single bolt ? Or beef it up somehow ? Or stay on port tack ?

--Steve
 

garryh

Member III
I was considering adding a cross piece to that fitting, the centre bolted to the one hole and extending laterally for another bolt on each side to give it more bite in the bulkhead.
 

steven

Sustaining Member
that seems like the easiest way to go. wondering why the factory did it this way. maybe there isn't much load on it afterall (which would imply the port side is overkill).
 

garryh

Member III
possibly just another of those details not well thought out, or executed. I do think one hole is not a lot of purchaes... but since so rotted, I cannot tell if there has been any wear or elongation of the one hole over time.
 

LeifThor

Member III
More on the subject of the mystery chain plate fitting bulkhead strap on the E35-2.

On the port side, I am now almost finished fixing the rot in the bolt holes and replacing the washers on three 3/8" bolts with a single ss backing plate.

But as alluded to in others' posts, the starb side has only one bolt. The place on the bulkhead where the other bolts would go is cut out for a storage shelf.

So what to do ? just epoxy repair the wood rot and replace the single bolt ? Or beef it up somehow ? Or stay on port tack ?

--Steve
It might help Steve to consider what forces are at work creating the need for these metal chainplate looking things.
They don’t go to shrouds, but serve to keep the deck from warping up when the lower shrouds are pulled on...
Except...
Only the rear lower shrouds are pulled on, because they alone are attached to the deck, instead of a bulkhead. The forward lower shrouds are anchored to bulkheads which are tabbed in to the hull.
I’m going the put these plates back on, but don’t feel they do much at the end of the day. It’s not like on the deck end of them they hold much of the deck, as if it was an afterthought, especially since as you mention, with the inset box/shelf there’s only room for 1 bolt instead of 3 on the other side. I’d gamble a better bet is the extend the lip on the deck side to run 3-5in in both directions so it’s got a better hold on the deck. I’ve been sailing in 20mph without these on my boat noticing no difference in the deck warping out, and with one less hole for water to get through, especially where critical bulkhead upper shroud chainplate area is.

here’s one alternative solution to keep the deck attached to the bulkhead-
Using epoxy and filler, pack it behind the lip of the inner fiberglass ceiling between the liner and the bulkhead. No hole in the deck while providing considerable attachment from bulkhead to inner ceiling which is also where the nuts are for the rear lower shrouds.
 

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