SkitchNYC wrote:

No, you're not. And no need to get all snippy about it either. Do
you really think there is less work involved in pulling them all out,
filling the holes and fairing and painting the exterior than leaving
them on and not pulling on them until you need to?

The stanchion bases leak - they're all coming off anyway. The question is
what to do afterwards. I don't intend to fill and fair - I'll plug them with
flanged bolts. That way, if I feel later that I do want to have lifelines,
the plugging can be reversed with the minimum of hassle. Fitting 18 bolts
with a squirt of sealer on each one is the easiest way to deal with it at
present.


They lasted this long without tearing the deck apart.

I might not be the most expert sailor on the planet, but I know crap
engineering when I see it. The fittings are horrible. Whoever put them on
didn't even use penny washers on the 1/4" bolts to at least give a semblence
of trying to spread the load. The outer bolts are so close to the side that
a penny washer wouldn't fit anyway (can't even get a socket on the nut -
have to use an open ended spanner, turning bit by bit). There's mild crazing
on the internal gelcoat around the fixing holes due to the localised
compression.

It seems to me that their present state makes them a liability. The fact
that they've lasted this long is no indication that they're in any way up to
the job. Rather, I would take that as a sign that nobody has ever grabbed a
hold of a lifeline while falling overboard.


If all you are looking for is
someone to tell you it is OK, then go ahead, it is OK.

If you look at the original post, you'll see that I was trying to find out
if there was something I might be missing with regard to the purpose of
lifelines and how they're used. That isn't the same as looking for someone
to tell me it's okay, that's a sanity check for someone who has no
experience of boats with roofs.


--
Wally
www.makearatherlonglinkthattakesyounowhere.com
Things are always clearer in the cold, post-upload light.