Re-installing pulpit questions. 1985 45c

[Brewskis]

Last year removed the windless for replacement, found all of the expected horrors. Not sealed penatrations, core rot, windless so stuck we had to use a 8 lb sledge and grinder to remove. Curiously the pulpit was installed so poorly, but once off the boat the pulpit itself is an amazing well built piece. Mine had teak that had seen better days. Made the decision to remove the teak. Turned out to be a much larger job than expected. 5200 and screws every three inches from inside. If only the guys who built the pulpit had installed it, there would never have been an issue.When the pulpit was removed it was great to find a couple of large pieces of what used to be plywood that had turned into mud under it. So now it's time to reinstall, I have the hollow from plywood imprinted in the bog on the underside. I'm thinking of using cousa to reinstall for strength in compression, however it appears to be about a two inch gap and I don't have the benefit of wet bog to lay it in. So thinking I'll install cousa in pulpit and grind on deck to match crest of deck.Anyone with experience doing this? Did you do it differently?Thanks in advance.

 

[Dan Mapes]

When I reinstalled our pulpit, which is quite similar, the painter installed new marine grade plywood on the inside/underside of the pulpit. I flipped over the pulpit and took a planer to it so as to match the curve of the fordeck. The glass on the fordeck is not that thick. I would grind the pulpit to match instead of the other way around. Make sure plenty of sealant is used around all openings etc. when remating the pulpit.
I had some dowels and boards in between the pulpit and deck so that I could get the sealant in and then drop it straight down on the deck.

 

[whoover]

I am doing the same job as you. My pulpit was not bedded in as much filler as yours. I used a PVC panel to rebuild all of the laminated plywood under it. There was a piece that sat on the toe rail and another that snugged into the toe rail and sat on the deck and reached to the rear slope of the pulpit. You could make paper patterns and stat there. It took me a day and I had good pieces to copy. My boat is a 42c so very similar, the deck under the pulpit is quite flat on my boat so there is no noticable camber. I'll get some photos out later today.

Walt Hoover

 

[Dan Mapes]

The deck under our pulpit was flat before I rebuilt it. Once complete it had a curve that enabled shedding water. The deck most likely flattened on our boat because the balsa core all but disappeared due to rot.

 

[worldsaway]

I also have a 45C and just completed the same project, it was a mess. I did not do it myself so cannot help with suggestions but they did use Coosa board. all of the previous coring was mush.

 

[whoover]

Here are the blocks I made for mine. The old ones were not really too bad but the PVC will last up there forever. I do not have the galley maid windlass so there is no large hole in the one piece. In this compression application it will be as good as coosa and a lot better than the soggy laminated plywood that was in there.

Walt Hoover

 

[Brewskis]

Thank you all for the feedback. I ended up using penske board, three layers of 3/4 left it just a little proud. Managed to get the pulpit up onto the deck again, will grind and test fit later this week. hopefully bolted down by the end of the weekend. What started as windless replacement took on a life of its own. Not for the faint of heart.

 

[JD5652]

I'm perplexed that Hatteras did not encase the plywood in fiberglass and resin??? Even if they did not do each layer, an overall encasing would have been a much better design for the long run.

 

[whoover]

In my case the pulpit was added at a later date by a previous owner. I can not speak for the other owners but the man before me was able to afford to have a boat yard do all the work that was needed and I feel that he was taken advantage of a few times. Not sealing the pulpit bolts was one job and finding a window bedded with bathroom silicone caulk was another.

Walt Hoover

 

[jim rosenthal]

It appears that some aspects of these boats were designed to last a very long time, and others weren't. This has made owning them interesting, to say the least.

 

[oscarvan]

It appears that some aspects of these boats were designed to last a very long time, and others weren't. This has made owning them interesting, to say the least.

I wonder if you could go back and ask the engineers how this boat would be doing 45 years from now what the answer would be.......