Using a grinder, I removed damaged glass from the interior and exterior of the hull and deck and reglassed the area. After consulting with my rigger, I decided to replace the chain-plate with something that would resist bending and add a bulkhead under the aft combing deck to distribute the load from the transom to the aft deck. This deck consists of several layers of marine plywood sandwiched between two layers of glass. It was built to handle the load of rigging hardware such as the winches. The chain-plate design that I came up with consists of two 'L' shaped sections of ¼ inch 316 stainless 2" angle-iron joined together and held together with four 3/8" stainless bolts. This provides a half-inch thick chain-plate where the pieces join. The plates are made from generic stock and no welding was required. They were inexpensive to purchase. After fabricating the plate, I polished it using an angle-grinder with starbright polishing pads and Mother's Mag-wheel polish.

Drilling stainless steel can be a real challenge. I own a set of cobalt-steel drill-bits. When used with cutting-oil, I was able to drill the nine holes in each plate using a drill-press without burning a bit. Drill-press and bits were purchased from Harbor Freight. I considered glassing in a bulkhead behind the chain-plate, but I couldn't figure out how to attach the chain-plate to the bulkhead. Instead of glass or wood, I decided to bolt in a steel bulkhead. Stainless steel is not only expensive, but it is also hard to work. Rather than drive the cost of the project up, I used mild steel stock for the bulkhead. This material is available locally and is easy to work. If properly painted and protected, it should last for many years without rusting. I glued and fastened a 2x12 piece of pressure treated pine to the underside of the combing deck to attach the steel bulkhead. I then made a template for the bulkhead out of scrap-wood. I sent it out to a local shop for them to cut a steel plate of the same shape using 3/16" steel. I cut a matching set of 'L' brackets to bolt up to the chain-plate and another pair to bolt to the underside of the combing deck. The steel brackets used the same stock size as the chain-plates. I drilled the bolt-holes in the chain-plate and mating brackets to use ½ stainless bolts. The mating brackets were marked for drilling after a dry-fit to assure that the holes would align. I had to move three of the fasteners that attach the brackets to the steel plate after locating the holes.

Transom Chainplate Project (page-2)