Hawse Pipes for Thick Bulwarks

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Wrapped it in polyethylene...

Thank you for the idea Blue! I take it the Poly was used as the parting agent?

JAMES: Keep posting pics, and I'll keep being envious! BTW, Marisa was just asking about you yesterday while we were working on the boat. We are both worried for you, and think of you often. Hope you and your family are safe and well, C+M

[James S]

Thanks Chris...we're all good here.
The problem with posting pics is its very quickly turning into a case of "oh yeah...what have you done lately" I'm having do dig deeper and deeper for them.

[ATC]

Try

Welcome To Hamilton Marine

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by Absolute

Try

Welcome To Hamilton Marine

Funny you should mention them - I just ordered from them a number of Buck-Algonquin hawse holes.

I ordered four of the cleated versions and four non-cleated in the same size to form the inside and outside of the fore and aft hawse holes. I'll have to completely glass in the existing holes, as the throats of the replacements still aren't deep enough to meet. For the two mid-ship hawse holes, I ordered four of the smaller non-cleated versions. B-A's mated hawse holes weren't deep enough for that application, plus the flange dimensions were a bit too large to fit the space between the caprail and the deck.

I checked a few existing powerboats here in the marina, and even though they're new, they mostly seem to have the same problem: the bulwarks are too thick. The only hawse holes I see which extend all the way through are obviously custom jobs.

I'll try to post some construction pictures on my website when I finish the work.

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by James S

If your thinking about a paint job anytime soon, this is also a chance the to "block out" around the hole in the space between the two surfaces and glass that baby closed...I had evidence of water intrusion in mine...not any more!
I'm sure they ended up more than 150 each...

That's what I'd like to do, but I'm not sure exactly how to do it.

I suppose the first thing after enlarging the hole to fit the new hawse hole is to "dish out" both faces of the opening just like you'd do to repair a hole in the hull. Then:

• Coat a block of wood in epoxy and insert it between the inner and outer hull below the opening in order to provide a base to build upon.
• Next, block out the bottom first, then the top and sides, with epoxied wood blocks.
• Use fairing compound to roughly round out the corners to make the opening oval-shaped.
• Then wet in layers of glass cloth (alternate with mat?) over the inner sides of the hole, overlapping the dished-out openings on the inner and outer faces, gradually getting to just about level with the face of the bulwark.
• Then fill in with fairing compound, and rough it out with a wood rasp, and sand to finish.

I'm all ears if you guys know the proper method of "blocking it out".

Edit: Or just fab an oval fiberglass pipe using a sheet of flexible plastic as a mold and formed to fit the new hawspipe?

[James S]

That's exactly how I did it, except I just used mat...no cloth or roving.
I used fairing compound (bondo) to hold the blocks in place...it kicks fast.

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by James S

That's exactly how I did it, except I just used mat...no cloth or roving.
I used fairing compound (bondo) to hold the blocks in place...it kicks fast.

And that's what I did. I'll post some images of the construction and final product when I get a chance...

[Christian Van H]

Hey Guys, I just came into some big Hawse Pipes. I have six units, and they handle a maximum Bulwark thickness of 4 7/8". Check out my classified thread for an incredible deal... Chris