Veridican wrote:

I want to put in some hiking straps. This means I have to screw a couple of (I
don't know what they're called) fittings onto the deck of my boat. Here's the
question: if I want to have a bolt and a nut, how do I get behind the deck
surface to hold the nut while I turn the bolt? Should I just use self-tapping
screws and put some sealant on them? Does that make a strong attachment?

How you attach the hiking straps will depend greatly on what kind of
boat it is. I'd recommend talking to Hunter (IIRC it's a Hunter 14.6).
Or call the guys at JY - I think JY actually manufactures the boats and
I've found them to be *very* helpful about this kind of thing.

Don't just install self tapping screws - they won't hold under the
stress. You need some kind of a backing plate. That may involve
installing an inspection port, which may be more surgery than you're
interesting in doing. I'd look at finding a way to attach the straps to
existing fittings, but since I'm not all that familiar with that boat I
can't begin to tell you how. Call Hunter or JY.


I mean, what if one of the shroud u-bolts broke? Would they have to separate
the deck from the hull to install new ones?

No. The worst case scenario would probably be installing an inspection
port.

--
//-Walt
//
// There's a village in Texas that's missing it's idiot.