New Cam Cleats for Traveller

Back to Home ... s/v Stella Blue home ... Running Rig Page ... Projects

I spent a good two months thinking about this one. I wanted to set the cam cleats up off the deck so that adjusting the traveller wouldn't score the edge of the cabin top. So I built a block out of fiberglass laminate (from McMaster-Carr) and milled it down to fit the base of the fairlead. It's painted with Interlux Topsides paint. I couldn't go closer to the edge of the cabin without screwing up the headliner inside the boat.

The result is pleasing. Note that I had to set the cleat at a slight outboard angle to get a fair lead from the traveller -- as opposed to installing more hardware to set the lead square. That would have been a pain since the line is pretty far off the deck.

Labor Day Weekend 2001, it's finished!

In retrospect, I could have built the shim with a 5 degree angle forward to get the ultimate fair lead, but that would have made it more difficult to use. It's certainly a world better than the last setup.

Update May 2002: I'm a little concerned about the
"fiber reinforced plastic" Harken fairlead assembly!
I've been dragging the traveller back and forth and see some wear. I might have to redo the whole thing with something steel -- but I'll sail it a while and see.

Update 2003: No, it's okay once I rebuilt the traveller and
learned to haul the line against the metal post instead of up against the plastic part.
However, I'd look at other hardware if I were to do it again.