Rust on keel step...

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I would pull the chainplates and inspect if they are more than 10 years old or do it anyway just in case. It's a relatively easy thing to do on most boats. If the chainplates are fiberglass encased, it's a more involved job but absolutely necessary to do. SS embedded in fiberglass is a perfect set up for crevice corrosion. SS rigging in the tropics is generally given a 10 years lifespan. It can go much longer with careful inspection and replacement when necessary. I do all my own rigging with Norseman terminals. It's simple and relatively inexpnsive to do your own rigging with mechanical terminals.

Big 10-4 on that. Our main chain plates were 1984 and had tiny stress cracks that could not be seen without removal and polish by a 400 grit DA sander. We replaced ours with GR5 titanaium. They were very close to tear on the dotted line. I chose titanium because I will likely never have access to the plates again. Ita a big deal to inspect them and I never want to do this job again. Probably overkill for most boats.