Bow eye-repair or... ???

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Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby RandO » Wed May 26, 2021 9:46 am

Hi all, My bow eye bolt apparently rusted up enough for the bolt to shear off, and the bow eye is now unattached. From what I gather it is a pretty involved fix, and although I am somewhat of a DIY'er, the space upfront is pretty confining for a big guy (6', 215). I will be tied to a dock this year rather than my typical mooring, so I am wondering if it is worth repairing or just epoxy the hole, paint and do without for the season. Perhaps repair it next fall, or just go without if it works out ok at this new dock space. Can someone clue me in on the difficulty of repairing this, if that is the best option, rather than going without? TIA for any insights.
Rand
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby GreenLake » Wed May 26, 2021 12:21 pm

Rand, you leave out the most important part of the equation: which model / year is your DS?

Yes, you can get by without a bow eye, especially if you trailer rarely, but it's not particularly convenient when you have to.

I'm not sure how to read your interesting notation for your height, but if you are short of 7' you're in good company: with the high boom and the weight of the DS it's a great boat for the taller end of the spectrum.

And yes, we've all done the bow eye repair, it seems. And the good news: it's not really that complicated. Your description speaks of a single bolt. I was able to push that in, insert a new bow eye and then, yes, had to crawl in to put a nut and washer on the inside. The right kind of socket wrench with the right kind of socket and the right kind of extension helps, if I recall. It's been a while.

On an older DS1 you need to remove the bulkhead with the two smaller openings. Held on by just a few screws, so easy (but be sure to restore it, it's needed for structural support). Other models like the DS2, I can't advise. However, cutting an access port into the foredeck, and fitting a circular deck plate, while slightly more involved, is not an unreasonable amount of effort if you truly can't reach from the inside.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby Alan » Wed May 26, 2021 6:30 pm

GreenLake's advice on cutting a hole in the foredeck is good. That's probably the easiest way to do it on a DSII. It's the method used by the author of the DSII book, Roger Conrad.

I've got stuff in the way on the foredeck of my DSII, so I had to crawl into the cuddy and make a hole in the forward bulkhead. Not so much fun, but it works. Some people have fabricated their own hole covers, but if you make a circular hole, you can install a pre-manufactured deck plate.
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby RandO » Fri May 28, 2021 12:26 am

Thanks gents.
Sorry, I have DS II, guessing by the hull # (10080 ) it's a 1979 model. I mistakenly used the bow eye for my mooring tie up last year. Perhaps that's what weakened it. I did have the mooring line also safety cleated to one of my 2 front foredeck cleats. I tried to look up into the cuddy to see if I could spot the other end of the bolt and the nut, but could not see it. I spoke with Rudy (at D & R) yesterday, he suggested it was quite an involved fix due to an air gap and styrofoam flotation. I'm not certain but I thought he suggested you couldn't see the bolt/nut from the inside due to the way it was constructed. If that is not the case, then I should be able to buy a bow eye with a long bolt. Knock the old one out, replace and put a nut on the end.

Green lake, could it be that simple?!? :shock: If so, I will squeeze myself into the front of the cuddy and go to work.....Hmmm, maybe I can get one of my grandsons to sneak on up there!
Alan - you were able to crawl up to the front, and then had to make a hole in the forward bulkhead? Can you expand on that process? That sounds like the way I'm likely going to have to have a go at this. Where did you make the hole, how did you know where to go, is it obvious once I am in there? Once you had the hole in that forward bulkhead, then what... ?

Thanks!
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby Alan » Fri May 28, 2021 11:02 pm

I'm on mountain wi-fi right now, but fast answer: On a DSII, there's a bulkhead at the forward end of the cuddy. It blocks your access to the bow eye attachment, so you need to make an access opening. It's not a big deal, structurally. All you need to do is cut an opening in the fiberglass, and once you remove the cut-out piece, the bow eye will be right in front of you. There will also be a bunch of old styrofoam bits that were placed there for flotation when the boat was originally built. This is a good chance to replace those with newer flotation.

The hole should be in the approximate center of the bulkhead (both vertically and horizontally). That will line you up for good access to the bow hardware.

I cut the hole in my boat with a Dremel, a guide track and a cutting bit. You can also make a hole with a drill by making a circular pattern of holes. Notice I lean toward circular holes - that's because you can then install a removable deck plate for future maintenance and repair work.

How big a hole? I'm skinny, and the 8-inch deck plate I installed gives me plenty of working room. If that wouldn't work for you, you might want to consider fabricating a custom hatch.

I've got photos, which I'll try to locate once I get back to my usual sources of info. In the meantime, I'd better post this before the squirrel gets tired.
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby Alan » Fri May 28, 2021 11:16 pm

Aha. Found one in my gallery, here:

gallery/image.php?album_id=42&image_id=1221
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby RandO » Sat May 29, 2021 5:35 pm

Hey Alan, Thank you!! That picture was worth a thousand words as they say. I had a general idea of what the job entailed from the other descriptions but you clarified it nicely. Now it looks like something I should be able to tackle.

Thanks all for the help. I just retired so I have plenty of time to work on this lol! I'l grab some pictures and post up the repair when I get it done. Right now the weather here in SE Mass is cold, rainy and raw. I'm going to wait it out and get to this when it gets a bit nicer by mid week.

Cheers,
Rand
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby RandO » Sat Jul 03, 2021 5:00 pm

Sorry for the delayed answer here, but I finally got around replacing the bow eye, and took some pictures. The picture posted by Alan really helped me go for it, so I thought I would add a few more to this thread for future reference. I was happy to see that the styrofoam filler was just chunks of styrofoam stuffed into the boat for flotation, and not a solid block that I expected to have to try and get through.
The repair was pretty straight forward. I was able to put a long metal rod into the hole left by the bow eye bolt, and found no resistance until I hit the bulkhead. The old bolt that had rusted out apparently dropped down into the styrofoam block area, and didn't need to be pushed or drilled out. I then took a long drill bit and drilled a hole in the bulkhead. I could see where the drill bit came through when I poked my head into the cuddy. Using that, I traced around a 6" deck late cover and cut the hole out. I reached, pushed the styrofoam blocks out of the way and could see the opening. The new bow eye/bolt was pushed through the opening, I used 2 large washers, one small washer, and a nut to secure the washers/bolt.I used 5200 sealant around the bow eye where it came through the hull, and tightened up the nut, squeezing the 5200 into the opening. I put the styrofoam back in, used more sealant around the new deck plate ring, screwed it in, put the deck plate cover on, and voila! Finished!
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby bilbo » Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:38 pm

Well, it looks like my card has been pulled for this repair. When launching the boat for a sail yesterday I noticed the bow eye was wiggly. When I retrieved the boat I noticed the roller that's under the bow had shifted, so whatever weight is there while on the trailer was now bore by the bow eye to the winch. I'm guessing that is why it's damaged. Thankfully it did not break on me.

On a positive note, I got to test out my new Amsteel/double braid hybrid halyards, soft shackles, and prusik knot jib sheets. I'm very pleased with all of them.

Also happy to have a small, light boat. With the lack of rain around here lakes are low and people are having trouble driving out of the launches with their boats. I saw more than one needing to get tugged out.
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby GreenLake » Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:08 pm

Glad you have a cause.

Also glad to see you enjoy your new running rigging. The setup sounds familiar :)
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby bilbo » Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:18 pm

Yes, I should add, credit for guidance and inspiration for the running rigging goes to GreenLake and some other posts from a while back, especially the hybrid halyards and prusik loop. So thank you GreenLake!
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Re: Bow eye-repair or... ???

Postby GreenLake » Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:42 pm

bilbo wrote:Yes, I should add, credit for guidance and inspiration for the running rigging goes to GreenLake and some other posts from a while back, especially the hybrid halyards and prusik loop. So thank you GreenLake!


I'm just happy you like them.

One of the fun things about the DS is that you get to experiment with the running rigging without running afoul of class rules (and even if you don't race, there's always a bit of a tendency to follow class rules to be able to sell a boat more easily).
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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