Recent content by Foulweather Jack

Well done!

Yes, I would guess the plate is probably about 3/16 of an inch. It is quite solid. There is no fold to the sides.

Images of the plate once removed. I was able to use pliers to remove the proud end of the bolts from the internal aspect of the plate.

LVW, I did indeed use new stainless steel bolts with "nylock" locking nuts in my repair. As far as I could tell, the backing plate appeared to be stainless steel, although I didn't test it with a magnet. The plate itself had no corrosion. I sealed the holes with 3M silicone sealant when I...

Sorry for the late follow up, guys. Having spent over $50 on cobalt drill bits (both right and left hand), as well as numerous screw extractors, I finally bit the bullet and installed an inspection port just forward of the transom. I used a hole saw to make the hole for the inspection port...

What if you used the foiling systems as described above with a more powerful sail rig? I come from the world of windsurfing, going back to 1975 when the sails were basically dinghy sails (a rag on a mast) to more recently with full battens, exotic materials (carbon masts, high tech sail cloths)...

So the bits I bought to drill out the old corroded bolts were supposed to be cobalt bits; purchased from my local Home Depot. An online search re cobalt drill bits results mainly in confusion. Can anyone recommend a reputable brand of cobalt drill bits? So I dropped by my local West Marine on...

Thanks, webfoot, for the suggestions. Any idea where I can order a new backing plate? Also, does anyone have a preferred brand of inspection port to install? Finally, I'm assuming the backing plate is held in place with epoxy and/or fiberglass. Any tips for knocking that off without damaging...

Still haven't been able to fix my gudgeon, despite buying new drill bits (both right and left handed) that are supposed to be able to cut stainless steel but no luck; I simply cannot drill out these old bolts. So, before I hire a professional, I had one more idea to run by the group. What if I...

I think the old bolts are stainless steel, since the gudgeon itself is also stainless. I live on a saltwater river, and the Sunfish is kept on a floating dock by the river so there's fairly constant salt spray on the boat. The screws are metric self threading machine screws. At the suggestion...

So, in the process of re-commissioning the fleet at my house on the river, I've discovered that my 13' Whaler has broken shift/throttle linkages, my larger Whaler has a dead battery, and the gudgeon on my Sunfish (see separate thread) is missing two bolts. To make matters more interesting, I...

For what it's worth I've posted above a photo of the transom after the gudgeon was removed. The photo is upside down, so the holes at the bottom are closest to the deck: these are the ones with the remnants of the stainless bolts that are embedded within the hull and flush with the transom.

Thank you for all the suggestions. My Sunfish is relatively new: a 2013 model. I took the remaining stainless steel bolts to West Marine today and found that the bolts are actually metric o.7 threads (3/4" long). I did buy some bolt extractors from Home Depot and I'm considering drilling...

I noticed that the rudder on my Sunfish felt loose and when I looked at the gudgeon, I found that the stainless steel bolts on the upper aspect of the fitting had corroded away and broken internally such that although I could see the screw heads on the outside they were no longer connected with...