Winch hook bolt broke in half...
 

So I was messing around in the cuddy cleaning up and such, when I looked in side the compartment just in front of the anchor locker.

The first thing I noticed is the angled steel plate that is bolted to the inside is severely rusted... then I noticed the end of a bolt with the nut screwed on... it was half of the bolt that the winch hook bolts on the outside of the hull with! It corroded and literally broke in half. I cant imagine this boat should be towed anywhere before this is fixed!

I know how to replace the bolts... but I am wondering where to get a angled steel plate for the inside? Any suggestions? Need to order asap!

you can make your own backing plate from a piece of bar stock you can pick up at HD box store if you don't have any on the shelf. it is a flat piece on the 88 v. it should be flat on most.
mine crumbled like a graham cracker when I checked it last year after being warned here about them rusting out. I cut and drilled a new one from a piece I had. Use new lock nuts, don't over-tighten. You can shape it to a v if it needs it.

I used a piece of 1/4" aluminum to replace that steel, I have a rule, no steel on the boat unless it's stainless.

yea, definitely need to upgrade that, not just repair it. check with any local welding, fab shops. all you need is some scrap from them. i would recomend stainless over aluminum. stronger and your hook and hardware will be stainless. dissimilar metals will corrode and weaken

I'll second that stainless is better. had the AL laying around & I'll bet the aluminum will outlast me or the boat.

Looked at the 1983's bow eye yesterday & it had a long thing rusty strip of steel, added it to the list.

Thanks for the reminder, must have fixed that on my '87 15 years ago.