Aft Running backstay Rebedding Project
The running backstay attachments appear to be made from bent 3/4" stainless rod, there is a plate on the deck side which is welded up and a backing plate on the underside of the deck which is 3/8" stainless plate the same size as the top plate. The stainless rod has been threaded for a 3/4" nut. Access to the backside of the deck is in the mid lockers on either side of the bed in the aft stateroom. The ceilings come out without having to go to extremes, the trick appears to be to pull most of the screws, then work the shelf out after which the rest of the pieces will come out. When pulled up from the deck there was no indication of moisture penetration and no corrosion, it appears that these two were pulled for the deck work in Mexico and then rebedded with 3M5200. The deck is solid and over 1" thick where the aft running backstay attachments go through the deck just inboard of the toerail. The holes were carefully cleaned and prepaired, the running backstay attachments were inspected carefully for corrosion and especially crevice corrosion and none was seen. The deck under the running backstay attachment point is flat and provides a good transfer of force to the deck from the backing plate. Thus, other than rebedding the hardware no additional work was required prior to rebedding the fitting with 3M5200 There is some question about if the aft port and intermediate port running backstay attachment points have been reversed as there appears to have been a progressive bending of the hardware to line up the load with the rigging loads but I can't tell for sure. The forward most attachments have definitely been aligned with the load, with the aft ones it is not clear. The difference between the intermediate and aft attachments is relatively minor, it is possible the intermediate on the port side was simply installed backwards. Materials from West Marine      1 small tube white 3M5200 (one tube was used for both sides) Materials on hand      latex gloves      mineral spirits - cleanup of the 5200      blue masking tape Tools      1" wrench for large hex bolts on bases Nov 21, 2009 - Pulled port running backstay attachment up, rebedded with 3M5200 Nov 22, 2009 - Pulled starboard running backstay attachment up, rebedded with 3M5200 Dec 5, 2009 - Final tensioning of port and starboard running backstay attachment.