When I saw
I was dismasted
In another thread it reminded me of something that I wanted to share with the group. A few months ago I had an unfortunate incident with Dolphin, my Vancouver 25, that made my standing rigging suspect and really did a number on the chain plates -- two of them were lifted by at least an inch. I asked for suggestions here, and was reassured that my intent to replace them with external chainplates was a good idea. (I was also told that the Fein Multimaster was a good tool -- and now I don't know how I ever managed without that wonderful machine. I even recovered some of the tear-jerking price by e-baying my Porter Cable profile sander). I now have five of the six internal chainplates removed (thanks Mr. Fein) and the substance of this message is that I'm horrified at how little was holding my mast up!!! Water had leaked through where the plates pass through the deck. Indeed, it's difficult to see how it could avoid it. The plates were bolted to pieces of wood that were bonded to the hull. At least, they were until the wood turned to papier mache. The only piece of wood that was still recognizable had _never_ been held to the hull in any but the most cursory way. The uppers were bolted to a bulkhead that had likewise gone the way of the wet rot. Now, bear in mind that this is a boat that was designed, built and sold as being bluewater-capable. So what about the ones that are designed for light duty??? Aargh!! If I hadn't had my "unfortunate incident" how long would it have been before the mast went overboard? Anyway, once I have the last of the old ones out, I'll use the Fein as a sander instead of a saw, and smooth off the inside of the hull ready for the backing plates for six nice new external chainplates which will never suffer from this problem. What's my point in this group? Perhaps it's just something like "I wish I had an M-23". Giles Morris