Cleats
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Marty McOmber
Jan 27, 2018, 2:32:49 PM1/27/18
to Passport Group
Hi all,
Wanted to share a concerning discovery on our 1985 P40. We are nearing completion of a project to restore our side and foredecks (longer story, but simply put, the person we worked with the first time to remove our teak decks skipped an important step).
I had always assumed that our main cleats fore and aft had embedded backing plates, like other pieces of hardware. Instead, I found that they were all attached with screws only and there was no embedded plate.
I have no idea if this was common on Passports, but wanted to make folks aware that they probably shouldn’t assume that those cleats can handle heavy loads safely. We know of one woman who died in the Ballard locks when the line she was tending got fouled during a down locking and the cleat ripped out and struck her.
We ended up upsizing our cleats to more easily accommodate heavier lines. It was fairly simple to reposition the bow cleats a few inches forward using two of the existing holes, which left great access in the anchor locker to install a proper backing plates while maintaining a god fairlead. (The original bow cleat bases straddled the anchor locker bulkhead, making it very difficult to put a backing plate there). The port aft cleat also had great access (if you can squeeze up in the space below the combing. The starboard aft cleat required removing the headliner over the outside shelf along the bunk in the aft cabin. It was easy enough to remove the teak molding (under which there is a wire run) and then the white “tongue and grove” headliner. Just need to locate the covered screws. I used a fosner bit to expose the screw heads and backed them out without doing much damage to the headliner. You will have to remove some of the wooden cleat under the headliner to accommodate the new backing plate. But that will still leave enough of the cleat to reattach the headliner.
Hope this is valuable to folks. Also would love to hear if anyone else has found the same issues with their cleats.
Sent from my iPad
Wanted to share a concerning discovery on our 1985 P40. We are nearing completion of a project to restore our side and foredecks (longer story, but simply put, the person we worked with the first time to remove our teak decks skipped an important step).
I had always assumed that our main cleats fore and aft had embedded backing plates, like other pieces of hardware. Instead, I found that they were all attached with screws only and there was no embedded plate.
I have no idea if this was common on Passports, but wanted to make folks aware that they probably shouldn’t assume that those cleats can handle heavy loads safely. We know of one woman who died in the Ballard locks when the line she was tending got fouled during a down locking and the cleat ripped out and struck her.
We ended up upsizing our cleats to more easily accommodate heavier lines. It was fairly simple to reposition the bow cleats a few inches forward using two of the existing holes, which left great access in the anchor locker to install a proper backing plates while maintaining a god fairlead. (The original bow cleat bases straddled the anchor locker bulkhead, making it very difficult to put a backing plate there). The port aft cleat also had great access (if you can squeeze up in the space below the combing. The starboard aft cleat required removing the headliner over the outside shelf along the bunk in the aft cabin. It was easy enough to remove the teak molding (under which there is a wire run) and then the white “tongue and grove” headliner. Just need to locate the covered screws. I used a fosner bit to expose the screw heads and backed them out without doing much damage to the headliner. You will have to remove some of the wooden cleat under the headliner to accommodate the new backing plate. But that will still leave enough of the cleat to reattach the headliner.
Hope this is valuable to folks. Also would love to hear if anyone else has found the same issues with their cleats.
Sent from my iPad
psherwood
Jan 27, 2018, 3:59:57 PM1/27/18
to Marty McOmber, Passport Group
My cleats are all through-bolted w/ backing plates, not as robust as I'd
like but sufficient, I guess. Getting them off wasn't fun but wasn't the
hardest part of removing the deck hardware when I removed the teak
decking. My boat's #129, built March 1987, FWIW.
What key step did your helper skip?
Phil
s/v Cynosure
San Carlos, Sonora
like but sufficient, I guess. Getting them off wasn't fun but wasn't the
hardest part of removing the deck hardware when I removed the teak
decking. My boat's #129, built March 1987, FWIW.
What key step did your helper skip?
Phil
s/v Cynosure
San Carlos, Sonora
Bill Schmidt
Jan 27, 2018, 5:02:46 PM1/27/18
to Passpor...@googlegroups.com
Well, this isn't surprising. When we replaced the turning blocks on Wind
Witch, we found that the backing plates (yes, they were there) had never
been tapped! The bolts were just threaded into the fiberglass and were
not long enough to reach the backing plates. BTW, I have a schematic of
all of the backing plates on Wind Witch,1983, #53, if you want to
hallucinate and believe in alt facts.
Billy Manana
Witch, we found that the backing plates (yes, they were there) had never
been tapped! The bolts were just threaded into the fiberglass and were
not long enough to reach the backing plates. BTW, I have a schematic of
all of the backing plates on Wind Witch,1983, #53, if you want to
hallucinate and believe in alt facts.
Billy Manana
Marty McOmber
Jan 29, 2018, 12:30:08 PM1/29/18
to Bill Schmidt, Passport Owners
I love a little fantasy, Bill. If you have the schematic in a digital format, can you share it? Funny thing is the cleats for the jib sheets windlasses are drilled and tapped into the plates. So are all of the stantion bases. I guess i should check the turning blocks this year as well.
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