Dear Boat Doctor,

A few stanchions on my boat were damaged in a recent docking mishap. Some of them are bent beyond the point of straightening. What are my options for fixing them? I’d like to get stronger stanchions to keep this from happening again.

Robert Carvey

Seattle, Washington

Dear Robert,

I sympathize with you; the crunch of fractured fiberglass and bending stainless is painful, but it happens to the best of us.

The cost of replacing your stanchions will vary depending on length, base type and taper, but I do know a very good source. White Water Marine (www.whitewatermarineinc.com, 810-987-4837) in Port Huron, Michigan, has produced the majority of pulpits and stanchions on American-built boats and they will certainly be able to make what you need.

Stanchion strength is a balancing act. I want my stanchions strong enough to support my crew but not so strong that they tear up the deck. In your case, stronger stanchions may have caused the stanchions to tear out of the deck, and you would be patching fiberglass as well as replacing stanchions.