Veridican wrote:

Don't use self tapping screws. That is a poor way to attach deck
hardware and will likely create bigger problems down the road.

Agreed. And today I discovered that where I want to mount the pad eye is
accessible from both sides (on top of the deck and from underneath through the
bottom of the centerboard housing. All I need is a long extension on my socket
wrench and I can install a backing plate and nuts and bolts. And of course,
I'll seal every thing with marine epoxy.

Thanks for the advice

"Marine Epoxy" i.e. West System 105/205 or similar is not optimal for
use with the ACP construction of your Hunter. The issue is that the ACP
is basically plastic and is more flexible than a standard GRP fiberglass
construction. West System and most other epoxies cure to a fairly rigid
state and when the ACP flexes and the Epoxy doesn't you get cracks where
they separate. I've seen a number of repairs on JY 15s crack apart with
the flexing of the hull. There's a special flexible Epoxy called Plexus
that is best for use with ACP (you can probably get it through Hunter -
JY used to sell it before Hunter swallowed them)

In your case you're just looking for sealant, not strength, so epoxy is
overkill. A Marine sealant will be sufficient. 3M 5200 is probably the
best Marine sealant out there, although once you put something together
with it it's darn hard to get it back apart again. I'd recommend 3M
4200 (a less strong version of 5200) or plain old Silicone sealant.

One other tip: spend the extra 30 cents a nut and get stop nuts. That
way you won't have to go in and re-tighten the nuts every couple of
months.

Good luck with your repair.


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//-Walt
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