re-bedding stanchion bases

1976 Cal 2-27 Time to re-bed the stanchion bases. Spurred on by being able to see two of the four interior nuts, I finally decided to cut an access opening in the interior wood paneling (previous owner did a nice interior refit with tongue/groove pine boards). I planned to mount a couple of wood blocks or metal straps to re-secure the part I cut out. That's not the problem. As I looked at the two nuts that I could already see, I noticed that the two I can't see are well buried behind fiberglass tabbing at the hull/deck joint I presume. Do I cut away the tabbing so I can reach in with a wrench? And yeah, there's no backing block, so that's on my mind as well. Anyone been brave enough to cut away at the fiberglass cloth on the interior side of the hull/deck joint? Surely someone has removed their stanchion bases for a deck repaint. Share the story with me. Harold Beer S/V Arcturus Cal 2-27 Hull #189

Harold, I have removed the tabbing. I used a dremel with a roto-zip tip to removed the glass tabbing so that I could get a wrench on. Take your time. Wear a respirator. My 2-27 had backing plates, but they were undersized IMHO. I had larger ones fabricated from aluminum. Michael s/v Magic, Cal 2-27, 1979, #627 From: Harold <ha… [at] yahoo.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 4:59 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] re-bedding stanchion bases 1976 Cal 2-27 Time to re-bed the stanchion bases. Spurred on by being able to see two of the four interior nuts, I finally decided to cut an access opening in the interior wood paneling (previous owner did a nice interior refit with tongue/groove pine boards). I planned to mount a couple of wood blocks or metal straps to re-secure the part I cut out. That's not the problem. As I looked at the two nuts that I could already see, I noticed that the two I can't see are well buried behind fiberglass tabbing at the hull/deck joint I presume. Do I cut away the tabbing so I can reach in with a wrench? And yeah, there's no backing block, so that's on my mind as well. Anyone been brave enough to cut away at the fiberglass cloth on the interior side of the hull/deck joint? Surely someone has removed their stanchion bases for a deck repaint. Share the story with me. Harold Beer S/V Arcturus Cal 2-27 Hull #189