1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Fore and Aft Bollards

Before the boat can splash, I need to have ways to tie the boat up to docks. I previously installed rechromed chocks and cleats on the mahogany toe rail. But the main attachment points are large bollards on the bow deck and aft deck above the transom. Just last week I installed all three.

Way back in 2013, I had the two aft bollards rechromed. They’ve been sitting in a box wrapped up in tissue until very recently. In preparation for splashing in October 2022, which didn’t work out, I finally decided what I was going to do with the forward bollard, so I sent it off to Frankford Plating in Philly, PA.

OEM bow bollard has seen better days

That’s more like it!

Aft bollard bolt holes were in OEM positions

My Roamer originally had a mahogany toe rail all the way around the boat, and the aft bollards were seated on it back here. You can see all of that in pictures from an early article entitled Aft Deck Enclosure Demolition — Enter the Chainsaw. Since I had a full aft deck enclosure built for my boat, there was no point in having a toe rail back here. There was fairing compound filling the bolt holes, but by drilling pilot holes up from the inside, I was able to re-open the holes in steps, from 1/8″ to 1/4 and so on.

Drilled out to 5/16″

Final holes drilled to 25/64″

The bollards use 3/8″ hardware. I drilled the holes 1/64 oversized to account for the epoxy coating I applied inside each hole. I apply the epoxy to seal up the joints between the paint, primer, filler, aluminum, and the bitumastic coating layers and the wooden backing blocks I’ll install inside, under each bollard.

Positioning the forward bollard was a bit more challenging

I partially installed the new Lofran Progress2 windlass several years ago, though I never wrote up an article on it. It’s installed where the OEM bollard was originally, using the original hole in the deck for the anchor rode to pass through. The deck is substantially fortified up here to withstand the stresses a bollard can transmit, so it should hold up to windlass stresses, too. The bollard was originally center-line, but I’ll need to install it slightly off center, so the anchor rode can pass from an anchor roller I’ll someday install on the toe rail at the tip of the bow through to the windlass.

The view from the rode locker forward of the V-berth bulkhead

I’ll finish the windlass installation later. All it needs is a 3/4″ spacer, the control solenoid, the electrical cables installed. But it’s not a priority now.

I always get nervous drilling holes in my “new” Awl-Grip paint

With all of the holes drilled, I cut backing blocks from a scrap of 3/4″ okume plywood

This okume plywood is far denser than the pressure treated pine that’s commonly used for backing blocks. This scrap of tough, marine-grade plywood was leftover from the galley bulkhead installation. I’m glad I kept that scrap!

Contact surfaces are shaped to match the underside of the aft deck

Next, I held the blocks up to where they’ll mount under the aft bollards, and rocked them back and forth to figure out where the high spots were. The opposite corners that don’t tip are the high ones. I marked the high corners then hit them with a 36 grit grinding disk and repeated the process until no corner would tip and open up a gap with underside of the deck it’s touching.

Nice, tight fit

It would have been easier to do this job if I didn’t have beautiful mahogany panels installed on the walls of the aft stateroom. But in any case, in the picture above you can see the silver painted OEM bitumastic layer Chris Craft installed to insulate and protect the aluminum hull and decks. The bitumastic layer isn’t smooth, and I want 100% solid contact between the backing blocks and the deck. I used epoxy to fill the gaps.

Next, I saturated the contact surface of the backing blocks with epoxy…

…and slathered on lots of wood-flour and Cabosil-thickened epoxy

Starboard aft bollard backing block is wedged up against the underside of the deck

Ditto for the port side

Bow deck backing block got the same treatment

Two bollard bolts will go through the backing block, the other two go through the C-channel aluminum framing

All bolt holes were sealed with epoxy

On the off chance that the caulk I use to install the bollards leaks one day, there is no way for water to get past the epoxy and into the aluminum, paint, or filler layers, and I epoxy coated the holes I drilled in the backing blocks the next day, so that wood is waterproofed as well.

I bit of wood-flour thickened epoxy squeezed up the bolt hole

Next day, I drilled out the thickened epoxy and made bolt holes in the backing blocks

I used a small acid brush to apply epoxy to the inside of the bolt holes in the okume, then it was time to tape off the area for caulk and install the bollards.

Ready for caulk

I roughly positioned the bollards, then pushed the bolts through the holes so the bollards were exactly where they’ll be when the nuts get tightened from below. After taping the deck and the bollard, I removed the bollard and bolts, applied caulk, then put it all back together.

The missus was a big help, holding the machine screws in place while I tightened the nuts from below. Then I ran up topside, squeegeed off excess caulk, wiped the area with mineral spirits to remove caulk residue, and pulled the tape. I wiped one last time with a section cut from a fresh rag that’s got just a bit of mineral spirits on it.

Nice!

I like it!

Repeat the process on the port side

And wrap up with the bow

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Recommissioning the Trim Tabs