I removed and rebedded the starboard chainplates a few years ago. As I recall, the rectangular hole is not isolated/sealed. I put tape over the hole on the inside, then brushed some West epoxy around the inside of the hole, waited for it to harden, then reinstalled and sealed the chainplate. Now that I own a Dremel tool, I'll probably remove some of the core next time, and fill with a thickened epoxy.

Good thing was that there was no rot, and the upper shroud chainplate was definitely leaking; water was running down the aft side leaving streaks (lucky).

Need to tackle the port side this spring.

[QUOTE=plaineolde;7627]I removed and rebedded the starboard chainplates a few years ago. As I recall, the rectangular hole is not isolated/sealed. I put tape over the hole on the inside, then brushed some West epoxy around the inside of the hole, waited for it to harden, then reinstalled and sealed the chainplate. Now that I own a Dremel tool, I'll probably remove some of the core next time, and fill with a thickened epoxy.

Good thing was that there was no rot, and the upper shroud chainplate was definitely leaking; water was running down the aft side leaving streaks (lucky).

Need to tackle the port side this spring.[/QUOTE]

Could you share details of this project? Did you completely remove the plate? I'm planning to reseal my chainplates but only envisioned removing the cover plate, cleaning out the old caulk, putting a chamfer around where the plate exits then sealing with either butyl rubber or boat life, then putting the thing back together.

If its not too heinious a job, removing the plate removing some core and sealing with epoxy in addition to the above would give a lot of piece of mind.

My boat had seriously leaking upper shroud chainplates, when delivered from the factory to the dealer. There were stains along the top of the port bulkhead and some delamination of the white surface inside the head; both were repaired by the dealer prior to delivery. But they leaked again, so I had the dealer tackle it the next fall prior to winter storage. That held it for a few years, but my wife noticed water running down the stbd upper chainplate during a rain storm, so obviously, time to tackle it myself.

I removed each chainplate completely. The upper is the most difficult, as there are a number of bolts along the bulkhead, not all of which are easy to reach (a helper for a couple is helpful). The cut and fit of the rectangular hole through the deck is not the best work I've ever seen.

Once the chainplate was removed, I taped a plastic bag to the overhead under each , then removed all of the old, dry, hardened caulk. Not the most rewarding task you'll ever do. I used a variety of tools; rat tail file, triangle file, flathead screwdriver, pen knife; whatever would fit in there and get the hole and core cleaned out.

Once the caulk was removed, I put masking tape under the hole and forced thickened epoxy putty around the inside of the hole, trying to just leave enough to seal the surface, without interfering with the chainplate, which was a pretty tight fit on one side (may not be the case on your boat). Once hardened, more filing to clean it up, and a test fit.

As you mentioned, filing a bit of a chamfer around the edges gives silicone sealant a place to live.

At this point I reinstalled the chainplate, and taped around where the trim plate goes (hate that stuff, it gets everywhere). Sealed it with silicone and put the trim plate back on, then removed the tape.

Pretty much the same procedure for the lowers, except they're not as hard to get off.

If I'd owned a Dremel tool and a recently purchased multi-tool, they would have made the job a lot easier, and allowed me to 'hollow out' the core a bit more, to get more epoxy sealant in there.

Hope that helps. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Didn't take as long as it sounds.

PS. You're not far down the Bay from me, I'm on Worton Creek.

When we bought our boat it was clear the chainplates had leaked at one time so as a matter of course I pulled them all to grind the core out and epoxy them. I found that at some point in time the core had been ground back and epoxy filled in all 6 of them. It was not a bad job but in a couple of spots they didn't grind back far enough and the epoxy was thin. So I did some spot repairs on those spots, ground them out with a rotary rasp on my dremel tool, filled with thickened epoxy again then rebedded and reinstalled everything.

It's not a massive job, takes a couple of hours to pull the 4 chainplates that are on the rods, the two big ones bolted to the bulkheads take longer because of all the bolts holding them in place. If you mixed your epoxy hot enough to kick within an hour or so and had warm weather you could do the whole job in a day. A time consuming part is making up little dams to keep the epoxy where it is supposed to be and not let it leak through and run all over the cabin. Drop cloths are a necessity. As time allows I am doing the same thing with the stanchions that pass through core, have that about half done.

Maine Sail strikes again:

[url]http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117172[/url]

I used to use silicone for everything, not anymore.

Bill writes, "Could you share details of this project?" A great question for all of us planning a complex task like this. How about getting that digital camera out and photographing the heck out of any tough task, then working together with Steve Frost or myself, coming up with a written description to go with the photos.

Shazaam! You will have just created a great piece for JibSheet and for our Technical - Maintenance or Upgrades library! Thus, no owner will ever again have to say 'Can you share details of that project' because it will be online and readily available.

How about it?

(My first attempt to post a response doesn't seem to have worked so trying again.)

Chain plate woes always generate a lot of discussion. Best as I can tell, leaky chain plates relate to production years 1996-2002 where the chain plate design was such that there was a simple hole cut through the deck with the flange of the chain plate fitting up against the roof of the cabin.

As we have all experienced, leaky chain plates is almost universal, hard to correct and rebedding has to be done frequently. I plan to do mine for the second time this summer following lots of great advice I have read on this forum. I have come to believe that the mimimum "fix" requires removal of the chain plain, dremel work to open up the chain plate hole and create a chamfer which will allow for the deck core to be sealed with epoxy and more room for sealant. Don't forget that the deck through-bolts can leak as well and require the same fix. Unfortunately for me I have some core moisture to deal with as well.

A very resourceful and good friend of mine who faces the exact same problem with his C34 is taking the solution even one step further. We have had many great discussions this winter on all kinds of "fix it" ideas and in the end he has decided to redesign the chain plate such that the flange will fit on the surface of the deck. This will provide a much larger suface area for sealant among other potential benefits. He has already completed a prototype design and model and is close to having a metal prototype machined.

Our plan is to document the whole project in writing and pictures and share it on the C34 and C36 fourms so everyone can learn about its success (and challenges). I plan to post a more detailed description of the problem, suggestions and photos about the redesigned prototype in the next couple of weeks.

Rick Verbeek
C36 1999
#1763
Wintry Toronto

Rick, if there's any C28's around take a look at the chainplates on them, what you are describing sounds like what they have. On our 90 C28 the big beefy piece was outside on the deck with a hefty stainless backing plate below decks, both pieces secured with two hefty stainless bolts. Lot of surface area for sealant and no little screws holding a flimsy stainless cap. I liked that setup much better than the C36

For anyone interested, you might check the tech section of the website on chainplate maintenance - [url]http://www.c36ia.com/node/134[/url]. Full procedure and pictures

I was always under the impression that the shrouds should be loosened on both sides simultaneously. In other words, loosen the top shrouds, port and starboard at the same time - take X number of turns on one side, then the same on the other, etc. - in order to maintain equal pressure on the mast. Not so?