How to access nuts to tighten Boat railings

[Peterb21]

I have a 2003 Sailfish 282. A couple of the railing brackets that screw to the deck are loose. They are attached with stainless phillips screws but the bolts must be spinning below the deck when i try to tighten them. I can't seem to figure out how to access the bolts to put a wrench on them so i can tighten the screws.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[seasick]

Its a long shot but one trick is to try and lift the bolt to make is tight and them spin the head with a power nut driver. You are trying to add drag to the nut by pulling it up against the backing plate. Other than that, depending on which bolts are loose, you may not have a way to get to them in some cases. In others you may need to remove fixtures that storage bins, cabinets, upholstery in the cabin, etc.
For the ones you can't get to, the only solution may require the drilling of a hole and the addition of an access plate.

 

[Peterb21]

Its a long shot but one trick is to try and lift the bolt to make is tight and them spin the head with a power nut driver. You are trying to add drag to the nut by pulling it up against the backing plate. Other than that, depending on which bolts are loose, you may not have a way to get to them in some cases. In others you may need to remove fixtures that storage bins, cabinets, upholstery in the cabin, etc.
For the ones you can't get to, the only solution may require the drilling of a hole and the addition of an access plate.

Thank you. I will give that a try.

 

[DennisG01]

Just to add on to what Seasick mentioned about "lifting" the bolt head... Add some more force by using a screwdriver as a "lever" to apply more force. Even better would be a fork-style tool - whether you make it out of an old screwdriver or use a door trim removal tool. But other than that, yes, sometimes you have to get creative when accessing certain areas with boats - and quite often you will be doing it blind, as well. Welcome to Boat Mechanics 101!

 

[Byram]

I have used needle nose pliers to lift the bolt..

 

[Lt.Mike]

I just recently added two new cleats to the front side areas of my Overnighter under the railings. There is a very tight gap from inside the cabin giving access to the underside of the upper deck where the railings are bolted down. Could get my arm up in there or my head to see but I had a solution.
With help of an inspection camera go see what we were doing and my neighbors son who was raised with a working knowledge of tools he was able to get his still skinny arms up in there with a wrench while I was up on deck with a screwdriver to tighten it all down.
Watching what we were doing on the inspection camera was the only way because you couldn’t get your head in there to see.
All the railing mounts were accessible this way too.
Is it easy? Oh hell no, but you can get it done this way. Only need to do it once in a blue moon right ?
I would be surprised if it wasn’t the same for yours.
The link below to my thread will detail all this...

Adding new cleats

I'd touched base on this earlier and have decided to follow thru. When tied up at the ramp waiting for me to park my truck or dunk the trailer after a day on the water the boat has a way of pivoting in with the bow rubbing on the dock marring the gelcoat. This happens even If I ask someone to...

www.greatgrady.com