Creaking beam on 1434

A while back the rear beam on 1434 (Carter plywood boat) started creaking. So I checked the beam bolts and they were all loose; I tightened the bolts up and the creaking stopped... for a while. When the creaking started again I checked the bolts again; the port side were still tight but the starboard side had come loose so I tightened them again.

After that the starboard side bolts kept coming loose and I kept tightening them. The beam bolts have 1" square aluminium washers under the heads of the bolts and the washers have squashed the timber to the extent that they are now completely recessed into the timber. So I made some big 40mm x 75mm washers out of 3mm stainless to spread the load on the timber.

I fitted the washers yesterday and did the bolts up very tight, but the beam is still creaking. Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on here?

Thanks,
Greg.

Hi Greg,

my guess is that the beam while bolted down firmly is still moving.

My experience with 1111's beams was that with previous owners beams had been allowed to move around, so the holes in the timber under the deck had slotted oversize to the bolts.

This was fixed by taking the beams off the boat, filling the existing bolt holes with an epoxy microfibre blend and then re-drilling the bolt holes using the beam bolt holes as the guide.

This sounds simple, but in the case of 1111 it came with some complications . The dolphin striker had bot been riveted to the beam (it just relied on the beam bolts to hold the tension) this was part of the reason the bolt holes had been elongated, the timber gets worn throgh with side load. Next I discovered the boat was not maximum width, so do I start again, new beams? But that will also mean I would need a wider tramp .

So I guess I am saying watch out for opening a can of worms