Feetup and Sailingdog both make valid points. Would that all boats were built to "Bristol" standards! Each boat is built with a use in mind. To suggest that a coastal cruser should be rebuilt to blue water standards is silly. Repairs should be considered in more than one context. Safety should not be compromised, but does it necessarily follow that thru hulls on the head sink drain need be bronze, not plastic? I agree that its a worthy thought, and it takes only a few minutes,, to radius the corners of a backing plate on a mooring
cleat. If, however, it is a mooring
cleat on a 16 foot sailboat moored on a quiet lake with 3/8 nylon
line, perhaps its overkill. If I have a 20 year old boat and a part has failed, and I plan on owning the boat 4 more years, I rebuild it the same way. The repair will probably last longer than the boat and 16 years beyond when I sell it. If I know a better way, a more expensive labor intensive way to do this repair, am I short changing my boat? Another example, my friend Giu, who suggested I rebuild my salon with hi-tec foam board with a wood veneer, to save weight... Giu is, simply, the smartest man I have ever met. His enthusiasm for his boat tends to skew his perspective on repairs though. I figure I would save about 260lb. It would take me 6 months extra work. On an 11500 lb. 1979 Irwin Citation 34. We're not even going to talk about the Money. I think we need to keep the people we're talking to in mind. There are some who can second guess designers on things like glassing bulkheads, but they are few and far between. I would hate to be the one telling a newbie who wants to "stiffen up" his boat, that adding glass is a good idea. To give advise, we must keep time, money, application, original intent, original design, and the skill of the repairing individual in mind. I love that "proof by violent waveing of the arms".