As others may have experienced with removing the windlass from the deck, 3 of the 4 bolts were easily removed. The aft starboard bolt is threaded into the deck (no visible nut and probably into a glassed in steel plate). In fact in the bow locker there is rust stain coming through the fiberglass deck and also all along the hawse pipe.
In attempting removal the bolt head sheared off leaving a stud about 1” above the deck as pictured above (assuming picture goes with email. I am afraid that continuing to attempt to remove the remaining bole will simply result in shearing off at the deck line. My question is what have others done in this situation?
I can envision finding a coupling that could be used but would require an enlargement of the bolt hole in the windlass base thereby weakening it. The stud could be cut off and the windlass moved slightly with new holes for all bolts.
In addition to cobalt drill bits, I've had good success with a product called AnchorLube. It seems to work especially well on stainless steel. Pretty cheap too.
