Over the Holidays, I got started on the Cape Dory 27 work: removing the mild steel backing plate and webbing that served to distribute the rig's load over the hull. On a beautiful late December day, I decided that I'd work in the sunshine a bit, so my focus for the day was on the backstay's chainplate/knee...experiment? I say "experiment" because I had just never seen a loaf of bread supported by rebar serve as a backing plate and knee assembly for the backstay. Love, LOVE Cape Dory boats, but c'mon guys, this was just silly.
With carbide blades for the oscillating tool, I worked my way around the glassed-in rebar, eventually freeing it to the point where I was able to work the bars back and forth a bit to break them off. For better access, I removed the backing plates for the swim ladder, as well as removing the grounding wire attached to the port side pad-eye through bolt.
With the rebar out of the aft locker, I turned my attention to the backing plate - again mild steel set into a large glob of polyester bedding compound. The backing plate fought me a bit, but with the oscillating tool, sacrificial flathead screwdriver and a hammer, I was able to successfully remove the backing plate. During the process of removing the backing plate, I was able to remove the pad-eye through bolts.
With the "knees" and "backing plate" removed, I prepped the area for the addition of new fiberglass. There was significant dips and shallows across the interior side of the stern, and with the angle grinder and 40-grit flap disc, I reduced the unevenness of the surface suitable for future glass work. To replace the mild steel system, I will be going back with a combination of a laminate schedule of 1708 biaxial cloth and G-10 fiberglass plate. With the surface prepped for future work, I turned my attention down below and removed the salon ceiling strips to gain access to the interior liner - a portion of which I would need to cut out to gain access to the mild steel webbing glassed into the hull. That would wrap up the day's work.

Total Time: 7.5 Hrs