Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
So, a friend just bought a C-25 and I was helping him launch. I noticed he has a magazine/chart rack on the starboard wall, just aft of the settee, and now I have to have one.
How do I mount it? I bet some of you have one there, too. I am scared to death of drilling into that hull wall..... :). How thick is it? How do I get screws to hold well in the fiberglass?
I am looking at the seateak products WM and Dedender sell....
Sounds like he is a good friend. So why not just ask him if it would be all right to remove one of the mounting screws so that you could see the size and length. Its certainly not going to come crashing down if you remove just one screw. Personally, I would mount it to one of the bulkheads instead. Best of luck.
As OJ says, you'll be mounting it to the liner or cabin-top liner--both are separate moldings from the exterior. The hull liner includes the "furniture", cabin sole, etc. If you drill very carefully until you pierce it, you can then feel inside with a piece of wire. Most likely, if you pick screws that project 1/4" out of the holes in your rack, you'll have ample "bite" without encountering the hull (which, by the way, is a pretty thick hunk of fiberglass!)
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
Thanks for the quick replies...and sorry for my slow response. Work swept me away....
Yes, amazing wood panel in your quarter berth, Frank.
I think I will try the idea of pulling a screw from the other boat and see what was used. The difficulty is access as we are often at the lake at different times.
While I would love to mount the rack to a bulkhead, the cockpit bulkheads are already spoken for....and I want it to be very close to the cockpit as I intend to place charts/guidebooks in it. My 3 cruises in the San Juans annoyed me in those charts and books were always floating around the cockpit/cabin. I wanted them close at hand, but had no storage for them....
The wood is the bulkhead from the quarter berth, the one separating the berth from the dumpster, I replaced it with A-B ply and put the teak on the hull liner with SHORT screws. (yes I had two bulkheads, I have had two 25s). The A-B ply I cut for my air-conditioner but that is another topic. Doubling the fiddle rails makes a great chart holder.
I don't have those fiddle rails in my 89. I have a flat piece of solid trim...
Your version might make the shelf wider.
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
...Fiddle rails are common stock at lots of places.
I think suppliers call them "pin rails." A fiddle is whatever you put around the edge of a table, counter, or shelf to keep things from sliding off--a wood batten, plastic strip, brass rail, pin rail, or whatever (except when it's a part of a fiddle block.)
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.