Inspecting E40 Chain Plates
The following comment is in reference to Bill Smith's review of his E40 "Venture Forth"
Date: December 30, 1998
From: Wayne Turk Janwayne@aol.com
I noticed that Bill Smith of Venture Forth has the same concern as I about the ability to inspect the chain plates. If he or anyone else has figured it out, since I am showing some rust spots on the outside of the hull beneath the bolts, I definitely need to check them.
Date: June 9, 1999
From: Carl Hibbard chgypsy@aol.com
Hello Mark,
Please excuse the delay in answering you I have basically been out of town since April 20th. (Working on my own boat). My initial question to you is why do you want to get to the chainplates ? Are they leaking ?
If leaking and all you want to do is reseal the plates or bolts you can usually drill access holes, using a hole saw, to gain access. Several owners have used the small round "vents" like you use in a house eave for ventilation (about 2" in diameter) to cover the holes after doing this. You might want to consider a reinforcing washer setup one bolt at a time, if you have gone to this much effort.
The chain plate entry through the teak rail on the topsides is easily accomplished (one at a time if the mast is up, and ease off on the opposite cable) remove the rectangular trim piece (four screws) and start digging out the old sealer. Once the sealer is out carefully check for any rot under the fiberglass, if you have any send me another message for a more detailed explanation of how to get out and re epoxy. Assuming no rot you are just going back in with a good brand of silicone (IE: GE silicon II) and resealing the opening right around the chain plate.
You didn't specify year or model for your 37 Endeavour so I will attempt a blind reply for this next part. For full access you have to pull the "lower" headliner pieces, will involve dropping your lights out. The side trim, which are thin sheets of veneer plywood and I don't know where you could find replacements, would then have to come out for complete access. On either the A or B model a lot of cabinetry would have to be removed for total access to all of the chain plates.
Hope that this helps a little.
Date: December 26, 2001
From: Jean-Louis Levesque jlldg@videotron.ca
Reading horror stories about chainplates I was wondering if somebody had problems with that on Endeavour boats. Thanks.
Date: December 26, 2001
From: Carl Hibbard Chgypsy@aol.com
Hello Jean-Louis,
I have never heard of any chanplate breakage on an E37.
Most of the articles going around right now are about using a stainless of an incorrect application grade (400's ?) with heavy corrosion occuring where they are starved for o2 under fittings or sealer. Note that 304 (old 18-8) will also surface rust eventually.
If you are in any doubt take them out two at a time, one on each side, and have them checked. PS Just to cover my tu-tu if you do this don't hoist the sails or take the boat out or.......... :>)
For reference most of the stainless that you buy, Ace Hdwe, West Marine, BoatUS is 304. Stronger more steel blend. I know one guy that pulled off all of his new aluminum toerails and rebeded, for the second time, using actual 316 hardware due to the above fact. ( I think that 316 is old 18-10 ....help someone)
Point in fact. Stainless Steel doesn't mean that it won't rust, "just less rust" :>)
I do know of several cases where someone, builder or otherwise to make chainplates 18" long and say 2.5 " wide and .5 in thick, layed two lengths of stock side by side ,lets say 1/4 + 1/4, and then welded the seam ground it down and finished it off. These corroded inside on the split. Heat welding would put condensation in and it was only a matter of time it rotted from the inside out......went with a bang ! In one case it was an '84 boat that blew in '99. Hope this helps.
Date: January 5, 2002
From: Ed Mahoney ed.mahoney@us.abb.com
Paul and Jean-Louis,
I had some chain plate problems on my E-42 a few years ago. I bought the boat new, so I cannot blame anyone but myself for the problem.
The problem was water leakage due to failure to maintain the bedding where they pass through the deck. There is a plate there, and the seal looked good, but it developed a leak under the bedding compound, and water seeped in and almost destroyed a bulkhead. I ended up replacing about 70% of it.
When I tore the assembly apart, I found that the hole in the deck was about 3 times as wide as it needed to be, and that the bedding just dropped in the hole, and sat on the decorative wood covering inside the boat. Evidently, after 13 years, enough water got to the bulkhead that it rotted. I don't know how long it was bad, but that year I decided to do a very thorough inspection of the chainplates, because I was planing an extended vacation with my family,, and verify the tightness of all bolts, you cannot get to them easily, so I had been remiss for a few years. When I began to tighten the top bolts, the bulkhead collapsed. The lower half, that I could get to were solid as a rock.
The lesson I learned is that rebedding is done based on time, not appearance, and I rebedded every fitting that year, and plan to do them again in the spring.
I also learned that while I love the Endeavour Interior, and the finish work, my desire not to disturb it could have been a disaster. I have removed most of the finish plates, and replaced the nails with Brass Screws and washers so I can quickly and easily look around. I can drop most of the ceiling in 15 min with a power screwdriver. Just a few thoughts.
