Allied Greenwich 24: Removing Hardware & Brightwork (Part 3)

October 4, 2018

Grabbing a few hours after work, I made my way onto the bow of the Allied 24 to begin removal of the toe rails, bow trim, and miscellaneous hardware items. Removal was straight forward; however, the number of trips into the cramped chain locker and then back onto the deck took its toll on me. Getting back into the swing of things post-injury is proving tougher than I thought!

I began with the foredeck cleat. the smallish bronze cleat was secured with four 1/4" bronze machine screws, backed with washer and nuts. I applied a pair of vice grips on the nuts, scrambled back up onto the bow and backed out the screws.

I noticed that the installation did not include any bedding compound (butyl, polysulfide, etc.).

I then moved over to the chain hawse, and backed out the six wood screws that secured the base plate to the deck. Again, I found no bedding compound upon removal of the chain hawse. The hardware itself is in great condition, and very "salty" looking, though a bit oversized of the Allied 24. Properly installed, it will be a great addition to the bow.

I clipped the wiring on the running light, backed out the screws, dislodged the light itself (it was properly bedded), and then pulled the wiring up through its point of install. This light will find its way to the trash bin.

Next, I removed the port and starboard line chocks from the bow. As indicated earlier, there was a bit of contorting my body to get the vice grips firmly secured on the backing nuts. I removed two 1/4" bronze machine screws per chock, gathered the hardware and secured it for future installation.

I moved on to the schaffer inner forestay fitting. This plate was installed with two wood screws forward, and two 1/4" stainless steel machine screws aft. As the boat was acquired by the owner, this inner forestay fitting was not being used, so it may not make the final cut for re-installation.

With all of the hardware removed from the bow, less the forestay chainplate, I moved on to the weathered brightwork. All fasteners are 1/4" stainless steel machine screws, with backing washers and nuts. I removed one fastener, the forward-most one on the port toe rail, and then decided to first focus on the bow trim.

There were a total of four machine screws securing the bow trim, and then it easily was coaxed from its bedding compound. This piece, as with all brightwork, will require new fabrication, with teak to be used.

I then made my way aft on the port rail, applying the vice grips and then backing the screw out from up on deck. The screws were installed through the toe rail without bungs. Instead, the screws were slightly recessed, and then some sort of glue/bedding compound was used to attempt a water-tight seal. It proved a sloppy install, since over time the teak ended up swelling and partially obscuring the screw heads. I removed a bit of material around each of the screw heads, cleaned out the flathead groove, and then backed the fasteners out. I made it as far back as the first chainplate on both the port and starboard.

With my energy waining, I quickly took care of the starboard navigation light.

The ease of the removal forced my hand to the port navigation light - both will find the trash bin, and the installation holes will be gassed over as the owner has opted for a alternate setup.