By Rich

I got a start repairing the collapsing floor under the batteries by beginning with the failed cleat screwed into the side wall of the sail locker. Here is the “before” photo showing the cleat having fallen away from the side wall.

The first step of the repair was to use a car jack to lift the floor back into its original position, then drill new pilot holes and replace the screws that had been torn out. At this stage the cleat (and one small vertical cleat that also been torn loose) were back to their original strength, which has already proven to be inadequate. So I spent some time in the workshop fabricating four additional cleats out of solid oak.

The wall the cleats need to screw into is not very thick, so to prevent sharp screw tips from protruding into the aft cabin, the cleats must be counter sunk only far enough to allow a few threads to penetrate the wall. I chose therefore to include 6 screws with each of the new cleats, increasing the total number of screws securing this side of the shelf by a factor of four.

Once back on the boat, each cleat was held securely in place as new pilot holes were drilled into the wall to match each cleat’s hole pattern. Next the cleats were removed one at a time and a layer of epoxy paste was applied to the backside before they were installed for the final time and secured with all six screws.

The reinforcement should prove more than adequate for this inboard side of the shelf. Next I need to fabricate two legs to support the middle of the shelf.