After having rebed all of my chainplates with polysulfide and having them leak again within several years I was fed up. Polysulfide just isn’t designed to handle the stretch and pulling that happens with chainplates under heavy load in a seaway.
I realized I needed something more elastic and had read good things from people who had rebed bowsprits, toerails, and chainplates with butyl mastic. So in 2002 I hit McMaster Carr and picked up some Butyl-Coated PVC Foam Sealing Tape part number 75875A661. I knew this stuff had great potential because with it’s PVC core it’s highly elastic and extremely sticky. So I rebed all of my chain plates in late 2002 with it and since then I’ve only had one start to leak, a much better track record than I ever had with polysulfide.
The best part was that rebedding was so much easier because the tape stays intact so you just pull it out, clean the contact areas with a putty knife and some acetone, and then re-apply. It’s also a lot cheaper than polysulfide!
Found your site the other day. I’m an owner of a HC 43 1970 living in Olympia WA. Have some leak developing this winter and due for a chainplate over haul too. Is it a big job. Any resources you can suggest. The sealing tape is a great idea thanks
Steve, I would visit the message board of the Hans Christian owners association http://www.hanschristian.org