bow handle replacement

[papayamon2]

Boy, since I'm getting so many of my questions answered, how about one more...

The bow handle on my just-purchased '81 SF is corroded (w/ lots of bubbling under the chrome coating). I'm afraid that it might give way sometime when lifting the boat, so I picked up a new one today at a local Sunfish dealer. My question is whether the backing plate will stay on for sure when I remove the old handle. I do plan to leave one screw in the old one, rotate it, put a screw in the new one, then remove the old one and swing the new one into place (did that make sense?), but I was wondering if anyone has had a bad experience trying this with a boat the age of mine. I would sure hate to have that backing plate fall down partially and be "irretrievable" in the process!

Any voice of experience here?

 

[nikobrogna]

I recently replaced the bow handle on my fish, and took all of the screws out before putting the new one on. The backing plate remained where it was and I had no problems. Maybe I just got lucky, or the plate might be glassed in. I did however need to buy slightly larger self tapping machine screws, as the other ones were stripped in th holes. I also like to bed all of my deck hardware in some kind of silicone sealant, and put a few drops of epoxy in the holes.

 

[parttimesailor]

for a more-involved process, pls see this link - http://www.sailingtexas.com/chowtoresetboweye.html

or - do a google search on "reset the sunfish bow eye"

 

[Al Court]

I've replaced several bow handles. My boats are so old the handle was held in with wood screws. It's my experience the replacement handles are ever so slightly different than the original so don't be hoping for perfect alignment with the screws. These screws can be tough to loosen. You only get one good chance before you damage the screw head, so make sure you use the proper, sharpened screwdriver, then pray you get them all loose!

 

[tobackpack]

I had the same problem recently. Unfortunately the backing block had seperated from the deck. This required an access port, new backing and lots of new bedding when I reinstalled the handle. The access port also helped to dry out the interior which was still damp even after installing a port in the stern to replace the traveller loops which had the same problem.