During a pre-Labor Day sail with a rigger and a boat-wright aboard, the port side aft chainplate fasteners for the foremast shrouds finally gave way.
Although we have inspected and renewed just about everything since 2008, these fasteners were too low on the list because they remained hidden. According to Capt. DelConte the fasteners had not been replaced and are probably 59 years old. Over the past two weeks all eight bolt fragments were pulled, driven and drilled out. After plugging the original iron-sick cedar planking and re-drilling through the original oak frames and shear clamp, new 3/8″ x 10″ and 3/8″ x 6″ galvanized carriage bolts were installed on both sides.