Samson post nightmare

After purchasing my 1978 Universal Litton 36 a year ago I was at anchor in
Pine Island Fl. It was blowing 25 and the Samson post imploded . It was rotten from the inside. After making it to safe harbor, I inspected the damage and found
That the post wasn’t fastened below decks. It all looked like the original build. Does anyone know how this is possible.

Can you fill me in a bit more? Was the post run through the deck down to the keel and just not fastened there?

As for KNOWING how that could happen, NO. I doubt anyone can tell you exactly how it happened.

Sampson posts are called that but frequently they are not really. If the post is not secured solidly at the deck AND then to the hull it is NOT a Sampson post. It is a mooring bitt which is usually not as strong.

As far as the rot is concerned ANY penetrations can allow water to enter the post and start rot from the inside.
THe wood the post was made from may also have had a flaw which no one detected and sped the rot along.

Your post likely would have been fine were it not for the rot.

Rot problems can be made worse by previous owners not looking after sealing properly. Even varnish will slow or prevent rot by sealing gaps but once started the only thing that can stop the rot is removal and treatment {poison] if caught in time

And to be rough the Taiwanese builders of the day took a lot of shortcuts which have taken years to develop into problems.

Repair/replace it and figure out how to improve it. Maybe a SS post now would be a better bet.

Thanks for the input. The post ran through the deck
And was fastened only from the fiberglass sealing the chain shelf. It sits on the bottom of the boat and is trimmed in the front to sit in the bow shape and sits against the forward v birth bulkhead. I’m planing on placing an aluminum plate on the inside of the bulkhead and thru bolt or lag the post in place.

Depending on access of course try to strengthen the at the deck attachment area also .

Some fiberglass buildup to spread out the load and thicken the loaded area and then some fiberglass angles using a 2x4 as the mold would allow you to bolt or lag through the angles into the post just under the deck.

Any movement at the deck will break any seal leading to leaks.

If you replace it with wood, seal it completely with epoxy first and then put a cap on it so that water won’t penetrate from the top into the post. Maybe even seal it with a penetrating epoxy first.

Sounds more "Delilah" than Samson.

A neighbor spent about $23K fixing foredeck damage from water entering via strained Samson post sealing, on a boat built by the same yard as builds NP.

Comodave said:

If you replace it with wood, seal it completely with epoxy first and then put a cap on it so that water won’t penetrate from the top into the post. Maybe even seal it with a penetrating epoxy first.

Click to expand...

I plan on that. Thank you

Thanks

Mine failed back on fathers day while rafted to my sons boat. It was just screwed to the deck and rotted. I made a new one out of teak, through bolted it with a Stainless 1/4 x 12 x 12 backing plate.

Replacing the post remember wood rots , SS or aluminum does much slower.