Bent Bow Pulpit

[Stephen Butler]

Some guidance and counsel please!  Our 1990 C34, toppled over on the hard during Wilma.  We have now replaced the rudder with the elliptical model (new control is fantastic), repaired the minor bumps and bruises, drained the engine oil and water from the bilge, and finished off the other small bits and pieces.  The last item is the bow pulpit which is bent severely on the starboard side (left side is okay, and no fiberglass damage).  We managed to get it "unbent" enough to sail, but it definitely needs repair or replacement.  Catalina has quoted a price of $395, and another $50 crating.  However, we have just learned that the pulpits were not indexed when built by Catalina's supplier, i.e., new pulpit mounting holes do not match up with the existing deck holes.  This of course would mean that we fill the old holes and re-gel coat, then drill anew, etc.  Questions: 1) Is the non-indexing story true?  2) If only one side of the pulpit is bent, could the bent section realistically be cut out and re-welded? 3) Should the weld be electro-polished?  4) Any good welders in or near Marathon FL? 5) Any bent pulpit straightening stories out there?  Know it is difficult to comment without seeing the actual damage, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

[RV61]

Steve,
As you said it is difficult to determine  with out pictures. My Bow pulpit is bent a bit from previous owner and I
have not had this project high on the chore list however it has move up to this years spring project list. If you put in the words bow pulpit in the search box you will find several threads on how others have delt with the problem. Some have used SS fabricators and others used carjacks with the pulpit bolted to plywood. Some fun reading. Let us know how it goes. Once I complete I will do the same.   

[Ron Hill]

Steve : I'm not sure about the Marathon area, but Miami should have a zillion stainless fabricators.  Think it would be worth your while to contact one of them and have them answer your questions. 
Did the factory indicate how far out of "index" a new pulpit might be?  I'm sure that Catalina will have the best price for a new pulpit.   

[Stephen Butler]

No idea how far out a new pulpit would be, when compared to the old.  I would guess not much, but I have been told that both the span of the bases and the bases themselves, vary from production run to run.  Surprising, but not unheard of in low quantity runs of many products.  And yes, CY has the lowest price so far.  Removing the pulpit and taking it in to a fabricator to get a quote, seems the best approach for now.

[Ron Hill]

Steve : If you think the index wouldn't be too far out, you could have some larger stainless disc's made to act as a face plate and  cover the old filled holes.  Then the new pulpit would sit on the top of those disc's.  A thought.   

[Tom Soko]

Steve,
I had to replace the bow pulpit last year after a drunken powerboater did a number on my old one.  Local quotes came in around $1000 (I don't think they really wanted to do the work), and a replacement from CY was just over $500, including shipping to New England.  I was told the same thing as you were, and had to send them the center-to-center measurements of the four feet.  Assuming the holes would never line up, I took the old pulpit off, and filled the holes with epoxy.  When the new one arrived, I was amazed to learn that 10 of the 12 holes lined up perfectly with the old ones, so I simply drilled out the epoxy.  I still can't figure out how 10 holes can line up and 2 did not, but that was my experience.  Overall, it was a fairly painless install.

[Jim Price]

Steve, I had related damage to bow roller due to drunken SAILOR and decided to upgrade to longer roller that fit much deeper in the well for more strength (and better ability to "hole" the guy the next time).

Point is, I was surprised how easy it was to fill the original holes with white epoxy (after figuring out how to tape over the bottom to hold the epoxy) and drill new ones with the new roller in place.  Some actually hit an old hole and rest were obviously new.  I think that even filling the holes and redrilling same spot will give you a much better seal and strength with the new hole.  And if you are off a 1/64", who cares, it will be a new tight hole, not a "re-worked" hole.

I say "fill and drill" !!

[Phil Yates]

STEPHEN,

I JUST REPLACED MY BOW PULPIT, FROM CY AND I AM HAPPY TO SAY THAT ALL 12  HOLES LINED UP JUST FINE..  ECLIPSE WAS DAMAGED BY THE LAST HURRICAN HERE IN PENSACOLA..... GOOD LUCK...

[Stephen Butler]

A final follow-up on the bow pulpit sage.  We installed a new CY-sourced pulpit with no difficulties.  All the holes aligned and the job was completed in 2 hours.  The interesting part of the story is that there were 9 other stern and bow pulpits being replaced in our immediate area, on a variety of brands, and every single one had no difficulties with alignment.  It would seem that suppliers have "standardized" these components by brand.  Now of course, having reported this, the next pulpit installed will require extensive drilling and fitting! 

[Bill Sedgwick]

I replaced mine last year on a 1990 C34 and all holes lined up. No drilling required!