Stern Railing

[shanagolden]

I have noticed that my ss stern railing stanchion is about to part from one of the plates that holds it to the deck. It looks like the weld of the tube to the plate is failing. This is the one that the life lines attach to on port side just forward of the fuel fill.  Probably from being pulled on over the years by people getting on and off the boat. Any helpful hints on best way to repair would be appreciated. I called a stainless welding guy and he said I had to take the whole thing off (major production). Any tricks on how to get to the nuts/bolts holding the plate to the deck ? Looks pretty tight under the coaming area. Maybe replace the plate with a fitting for the tube to go in and be screwed together ?

[Ted Pounds]

I think you're stuck having to take the whole thing off.  There's no special trick to getting the plates off other than finding a nimble contortionist to help you.    I'm guessing re-welding it is the best way to go.  Might be worthwhile to add some braces like are on the single stanchions...  Good luck.

[Lance Jones]

On a similar; but, different note... Does the C-34 have a metal plate embedded in/under the stern combing that you have drill and tap? The C-22 did and it was nice having something more substantial than fiberglass to add accessories (Such as a stern rail, flag pole etc...)

[Ted Pounds]

No it doesn't.  When I drilled a hole for my GPS antenna cable there was nothing but fiberglass...

[Phil Spicer]

 I had the same problem. Took the stern rail (push pit) off & ran a bead of weld around each joint between each post & baseplate. 
The forward baseplates were thru bolted with fender washers as backing plates . The 2 posts by the ladder have glassed-in backup plates in the stern combing. These plates (on my boat) are tapped.   Hope you find the same.
Remove your gear from the rail & get to it. You will have to cut the wiring for the stern light if the wires are in the rail. Cut in a location that is easy to work on & stagger the cuts 2 or 3 inches apart so it is easy to work on when you splice everything back together.
If you don't weld, & you don't like the weld shop price, think about looking into a weld shop at a technical college or a vocational school. I know my students worked for pizza or home made cookies.
Welding is the only good fix & the project is an easy one. The hard part is cleaning out the lazarette.

[Michael Shaner]

I have the same issue on the stbd side. Could be age, could be davit/dink weight, could be that docking shouldn't be a contact sport (but sometimes is...especially with davits)...who knows? But while there is the cutting and welding of stainless going on, you may want to consider this...



Detailed info here...

http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Transom-Pushpit_Rail_Removal

[Stu Jackson]

Bill Eddy, a very outstanding member of Fleet 1 over the years, who'd written about the fuel pickup screen among other issues, wrote about the failure of his pushpit weld in the Fleet 1 "Telltale" a few years ago.

Kinda "look at the parts of your boat critically" every once in a while.

Sometimes the "local" issues are more widespread than we think.  Perhaps we should find a way to "cross pollinate" the local Fleet newsletters to all of the group.