transom stanchion tic tac toe thingy

[souljour2000]

The Hunter 20 sailboat I bought a few months back came with a tic tac toe shaped transom stanchion thingy that fits across the stern above the transom..it looks like it was once mounted since it lines up with old screw holes when I hold it on top the transom...What i am wondering is.. how can i remount it well and tie it into my lifelines when it seems it mounts with screws and not bolts...I mean..shouldnt something like this be mounted with bolts?...any suggestions and advice/info are welcome...

[souljour2000]

Post scriptum- the transom is solid and about 2 1/2 inches thick so i cant mount this unless I use screws..but isnt that gonna be flimsy?

[chucklesR]

Picture would help Souljour.
It may in fact have been bolted, with the nuts down inside now - when building the boat they had access to areas that are now closed off.
On the other hand, 20 ft boats aren't exactly built to blue water standards it may well have been just screwed in.

If you think it will be too flimsy here's what you do. Go to the hard ware store and look for threaded inserts, open up the screw holes by drilling them bigger, reefing out the core material and back filling it all with epoxy, then redrill and epoxy the threaded inserts in.
The threaded inserts can then be used to bolt the thingy to the watchmacallit without nuts. Use flexible caulk under the heads of the bolts as bedding to prevent water ingression.

[souljour2000]

Thats the ticket I think..unless there are unforeseen problems like the shanks of the old bolts down there..unlikely though...it was probably just screwed or it might not be factory and was added later with screws . Early 80's Hunters seemed to have been crafted by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde..Dr Jekyll wanted a blue water boat..Mr Hyde wanted a bath toy..unfortunately..only Mr Hyde came to work regularly....thanks Chuckles..I will go that road and see what befalls..seems like a plan...