New bow hardware!

I finally got to the bow part of the hardware that needed to be replaced and worked on. The stanchion bases where cracked and corroded. I knew that they needed to be replaced. Turns out that the bolts that held the cleats on where so very corroded! When trying to loosen them the bolts snapped! They would not have held the boat with any kind of forceful wind or waves. Also the last time they where replaced they did not put any backing plates on them! That needed to be taken care of.

Broken nav light.

Crack in the stanchion base.

Odd cleat.

I was amazed at how the last person just tried to fill up under the base with silicone. There was a lot of rust and dirt that got under the stanchion base. I made sure to clean everything up really well with degreaser then acetone. Then I filled the holes up with epoxy. Then drilled new holes bigger then I needed. Then filled them with epoxy and let them cure for about a day or two. Then I drilled holes just the size of the bolts. This way if there is any leaks then the wood will be sealed by the epoxy. Letting only the epoxy get wet. That will prevent any water from messing up the wood between the fiberglass on this boat.

So much crap!

I made sure that there was good size .25" stainless steel backing plates for all the cleats and bases. It would take such a massive amount of force to pull those things through the fiberglass and the wood. They are on there nice and safe now!

Backing plates.

It looks nice having it all back together! Knowing that everything is very strong and solid is wonderful. I am learning so much more then I expected with this new adventure.

All put together!

I am so very glad that I learned about butyl tape! I have to say that it is the easiest and best bedding material. It is easy to work with. Easy to clean up after. Don't have to wait for it to cure before it is water tight. Just can't say enough about this stuff. I only learned about this because of people willing to blog and share on YouTube. It is awesome that people are sharing this information with the world!

Bedding butyl tape applied.