Enough coats of varnish for the bow roller platform and all the other pieces I was varnishing at the same time. Now to put some holes in this piece of wood. First I made the 3 holes that would act as the primary bolt holes through the platform and the deck. From there I was able to mark the deck where I would need to drill. The holes through the deck were drilled out at 5/8" then filled with thickened epoxy. These I let sit for a day then drilled them out again with a 3/8" hole. This will seal the deck core should any water infiltrate the hole. The bolts for the primary holes are 3/8" stainless hex head 6 1/2" long. They protrude below deck about 1 inch. My next trick will be to make a backing plate to sandwich the deck and platform. I will use the 1/4" aluminum plate again but access to this point of the deck and hull is extremely tight and is blocked by the Sampson post running vertically up through the deck in the middle of the for-peak.
Now for the rest of the holes. All of the rollers are attached with 3/8" SS bolts finished off with an acorn hex nut. These are all through bolted in the 2" wood platform. There are two other holes that will go through the plat form into the toe rail but will have 3/8" SS lag bolts instead. The finish appearance will be the same. My biggest concern is that the overhang may be too great. It looks really cantilevered out there. This is really only for launching, retrieving and storing the gr
ound tackle. When the tackle is set, the rode will be run through the deck chock and onto the Sampson post so there should be no torque on the platform. Time will tell. This is the configuration for the Danforth and Claw. If I switch one out to a CQR I might be able to slide the rollers back a few inches. I just dont have $750 for a new anchor now. Sailcare did my sails way to fast so I have alot of money tied up in 3 sails that will sit on the shelf for a year.
