repair and replace bow eye hook

[phatmanmike]

the bow eye on the front of my boat ripped out and i want to know the best way to fill in the hole and install new eye.<br /><br />i have dug back to fresh clean wood, and now i have about a 2 inch around hole, i can stick two fingers in it...<br /><br />can i fill it with epoxy and chopped fibers and then after it dries, sand it smooth with rest of hull?<br /><br />or what about body filler, like kitty hair filler... <br /><br />i have already replaced the bow eye about 3 inches above and it works great, i just need to fill a hole..<br /><br />thanks<br />m ikey

 

[Solittle]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

Check out Marine Tex. It is a two part epoxy and is ideal for that type of repair. If you can get to it from the inside I would tape a cardboard backed wax paper on the outside and fill from the inside.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

I think I would get some 2 to 3 inch stainless screws and screw them into the wood. Let about an inch stick out into the hole, but still within the hole not going past the outside surface of the boat. These will act as rebar does in concrete. It will give more anchoring surface for the epoxy to grab onto. You could go one step farther and weave some stainless mig wire around the screws to make a mesh to help in re-enforcement.<br /><br />This would just be an extra precautionary step so the patch won't crack or fall out. Good luck

 

[Bondo]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

I Like SS MAYFLOAT's Idea...................

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

Bolting is always much stronger than screwing. I would patch it up first ( I use Bondo-glass with chopped fiberglass filler- waterproof)drill it for a new bow eye and bolt it straight through to a narrow stainless plate inside that will act like a large washer sandwiching the whole thing together. The stress will be on the stainless plate. Screwing into wood will eventually tear out.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

Cobra he has already relocated his bow eye, he just needs to plug the hole where it was originally attached. If he was using the same hole, it would be a different method of patching and re-enforceing the area in question. <br /><br />I agree that he should have a nice thick stainless plate made for the inside of his bow eye to prevent future problems.

 

[ThomWV]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

Do you use your boweye to pull the boat onto a trailer? If you do you would be looking for a disaster using any of the methods mentioned. Absolutly none of them will result in any appreciable strength.<br /><br />Glass it. Start by laminating some light cloth over the outside and let it set up. Then working from the inside fill the hole with plugs of matt soaked in resin until you are up flush with the inside surface. Once you are flush with the inside surface follow up with a couple of layers of glass matt or cloth extending out from the repair at least a couple of inches all the way around. Once that has set up go back and drill it for a new boweye. When you put the new boweye on use a backing plate. Just stop by any decent sized machine shop and buy a section of quarter inch aluminum plate a couple of inches square. It will only cost you a few dollars.<br /><br />The result will be a boweye that you can use to load the boat onto a trailer or one you can tie to in case the boat needs to be towed on the water.<br /><br />Before you think of this as overkill I want you to think about this. If you find yourself pulling on that boweye with a few hundred pounds of force, like when loading or towing, and use use some sort of bondo (kitty hair or not, reinforcing screws or not, MarineTex or not) and that thing pulls loose - and believe me they will - I want you to immagine what is going to happen to the person it hits. Do it right, glass it and reinforce it with a backing plate and save someone the possibility of serious injury.<br /><br />Thom

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: repair and replace bow eye hook

thank you thom