Bow eye question

[kerrye]

Took apart the v-berth today to remove the water tank for cleaning. Was surprised to see very little backing for the bow eye behind the water fill pipe. Just a small plate joining the two bolts. Doesn't seem strong enough to me. Do other people have the same system? Seems to me it should have a backer piece of wood cut to fit in the V to spread out the load. Anyone else done this?

[sail149]

I assume you are talking about an A25. I would stay away from wood , every boat I've seen with wood there has rot.
If it worries you use a long strip of flat bar with 2 hole. It's a lot of hard work . I would worry about somthing else on a 35 year old boat.
For what it worth probably anything you attach to the bow eye will break before the bow eye...unless it's rusting from crevis corrosion. Prehaps you should spend the $35 on a new eye and just replace it whole you are there.

[kerrye]

I ordered a piece of 1x6 stainless flat stock to serve as a backing plate but I also remembered I have lots of small pieces of Ipe laying around as scrap from a deck job. I'll use a piece of that also. It is said to have a lifespan of 75 yrs as decking material so as a backing plate, even in the harsh conditions of an anchor locker, it should hold up. I'll monitor it as I'm curious as to its durability in those condtions.

[kerrye]

Looked closely at the exterior around the bow eye today and there are clearly stress cracks in the gelcoat. I think the greatest stresses are probably produced with a tight winch strap and big bumps in the road causing the boat to rock fore and aft. Worth checking to see what kind of backing plate you have.

[Beta Don]

I think the Ipe will do you well - We've used a good bit of it on our boat . . . . ladder treads, anchor platform, the beams (3 X 2) which support our hardtop and the aft rub rails on an A27. If it's ever going to rot, it will be sometime in your great grandchildren's lifetime

Don

[kerrye]

I got an explanation as to why the bow eye survived without a backing plate. Tom, the PO, told me he had installed the bow eye to bring the boat from NE to TX. So it hadn't been subject to prolonged stresses.