Has anyone installed 8" or 10" cleats amidship on the toe rail to accommodate additional dock lines and spring lines? I have a 6" cleat that slides on the track, but a) it's not forward enough and b) I don't think it is strong enough to be a cleat for a dock line.
If you did, how did you seal the hole in the fiberglass under the teak toe rail so water can't get down below through the bold holes?
Thanks
P69
We have a spring line cleat each side just forward of the track... looked at pics, but don't seem to have one showing this. I would think it's 8". My memory is that it's mounted through the toe rail.
P69,Solkat is correct the midship cleats are eight inch mounted thirty inches forward of the jib track with four quarter inch screws drilled through toe rail and deck with backing plate,flat and lock washers.The way I sealed them is silicone forced in each hole with caulk gun then heavy silicone around the last inch of the screws (headend).I hope this helps. Allen
Check out this piece on sealing holes through the deck. It is long, but very thorough.
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117172
I have become a huge fan of the butyl method of sealing seck fittings after discovering it, and Maine Sail's article is what turned me onto it. This is mainly because I've had sailboats in florida for 11 years now, and silicone, acrylic, polysulfide, and urethane caulks almost always end up leaking when applied in many high-stress areas like cleats. Now that I have the P367 that wants EVERY bit of deck hardware rebedded, I will only be using butly.
I do some advanced composites at work, and the butly tape he sells is different from the cheaper vacuum bagging tape I use. It seems the vacuum bag tape is sturdier, probably due to a filler like TiO or the like. Anyway the grey bagging tape doesn't work as well for deck hardware as the softer butyl.
P367 Boracay Star