Hi guys, need to put an idea out there...
We recently decided to capsize the boat off the beach for the first time last week to see how much water it would scoop in - quite a lot apparently!  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately since it was waist deep) the screws holding the webbing straps to the deck pulled out which rendered the buoyancy bags useless!  Its an NSM1 and the webbing was just secured by two screws (of approx 10 - 15mm long) into the hull planking.  I've done a kind of rudamentary repair involving sticking some 1.5" x 3" x 1" thick blocks of hardwood onto the panels using areldite.  I was going to use Epoxy but it has been too cold up here to set so areldite it is!  I plan to simply screw the webbing down as it was before but this time using inch long stainless screws into the blocks I've stuck on.  I'm really just wondering if someone can confirm whether this should be strong enough to cope?  I know that the screws should be ok but how strong would the glue be?  Do you think I should screw this blocks in using the same 1 inch screws but from the outside of the hull?  I'm worried that this would look crap!  Thanks for any advice as I really don't want to varnish it to discover it still pulls out first time we capsize!!  Thanks.  Oli.

I am about to embark on a similar repair as the bolts that go through the planking on our boat from the outside are turning when you try and do the nut up. I am planning to use "bighead" type bolts, rebated into the outside of the hull then epoxied in place. Bit of filler & paint on the outside, job done. We did the same thing for the bailers, but make sure you order the stainless steel fasteners.

Your new blocks and screws sound fine but, as you say, it all depends on the araldite. I think araldite is an early ancestor of modern epoxy and equally likely to be weakened by setting in the cold. If your boat is painted I would put a few screws (slathered with araldite or epoxy) from the outside into the blocks, all on a nice warm day. Also, are you within the rules with three straps on each bag and are you using toe strap plates with two screws on each webbing end?

Just move the screws along a little bit. Make sure you dip them in varnish or resin and you'll be fine.

The problem with blocks is that they can pull off too!

Just re read it - the blocks are glued on already.

I think i'd want something holding the blocks to the planking, and i think my preferred solution would be a dowel through the hull planking and into the block. Screws are fine, but they can and do move with time  water gets in behind the inevitable filler leaving all sorts of unpleasantness waiting to happen. Dowels epoxied into place do not suffer from this, and don't move.

As far as I was aware this was OK strap wise?  Its how we bought it but maybe this isn't correct.....They are as you say held in by webbing with strap plates and 2 screws each.....Oli.

The anomaly is that the right size bag for the back of the M-R is the Crewsaver 36"x12" 150lb bag (or metric equivalent) which has attachments on the bag for just 2 straps.  But the Merlin buoyancy rules require 3 straps for this size of bag so a 3rd strap needs to go across the middle of the bag even though there are no bits on the bag to pass it through.  If you watched some Merlins capsize last weekend as I did you will see why the 3rd strap is a good idea.  There is quite a lot of meat to put a screw into on the lands between planks but drill a pilot hole and dip the screw in epoxy before putting it in.  I prefer doing this to putting holes right through the planking myself.

Message for Chris M - Heaven Sent still in one piece but awaiting definitive repair from Laurie when he can be located, alleged to be after the early May Bank Holiday when his yacht reaches Brighton.  Many thanks for your help at Salcombe.

Andrew

I have found that quite a neat way is to use the webbing bridges (Tony Blackmore at Sailsport supplied my recent ones) screwed into the hull at the lands with a bit of epoxy on the end of the screw using a tiny pilot hole.  Knot one end of the webbing strap and push a doubled end under the bridge and slide in a piece of square timber the length of the bridge.  Pull the webbing tight and repeat on the other end. Don't cut the webbing until you get the length perfect.   Very simple - they had it in 1728 which was the first Merlin I restored an was a Bob Hoare built boat.  It makes it very easy at the end of the season to take the bags out and give them a rinse and clean the straps and the hull behind the bags - no need to unscrew anything, just deflate the bag a little, slide out the wooden pegs and that's it.  Never had one pull out at any point.  Hope this helps.  New yellow webbing dirt cheap on ebay as have just bought some for a newly restored Firefly

Obviously a Bob Hoare favourite as we have same webbing and peg system. Just make sure bags are firmly inflated before joining motorway and carry spare pegs just in case as they can work loose if straps are not under tension.

Had the same fittment of pegs on my Sugar plum, always worked well

Talking about my old Sugar Plum, anyone know what happened to 1890

Inevitably the pegs do work loose on the motorway and you discover a peg floating around in the bottom of the boat when in the middle of a race.  When this happened last year, we of course capsized under spinnaker and I ended up swimming behind the boat to get her in without one of the buoyancy bags!  I have now replaced the pegs with a continuous length of dowel rod at a cost of 90p and much peace of mind!