"fast entry" cam cleats?

[navahoIII]

Hello, All,

Our DSI (circa 1961) has what must be her original jib sheet cam cleats mounted on the insides of the coaming, port and starboard.

They are the kind we all know and love, made of that unique form of linen that is hardened and lasts forever. I have no problem with what the cleats are made of. In fact, I'd love to keep them -- if only they were easier to use. But they're not, they are stiff and they open with great reluctance.

They used to work better (somewhat) when they were set on angled bases, so that one didn't need to rub one's hand raw against the coaming for every re-cleat. They are now on flat bases because I wanted to secure the cleats better and installed machine screws all the way through the coaming with nuts on the ends, rather than continue with the wood screws which working their way loose.

Anyway, barring someone's advice on how to improve their functionality, I think that new cleats might solve the problem. I've seen and played with the "fast entry" type by Schaefer. They seem dreamlike to use. Will that solve the problem, or did I make a big mistake by mounting the old cleats on flat bases? In other words, will these new, easy-to-engage cleats be enough to make the difference even lying flat?

[GreenLake]

Without a picture, I'm not 100% sure I know what you mean.

I've had Harken cleats bind on me when I screwed them in too tight.

My cleats are mounted on the CB trunk. After a few years having them mounted flat (while the jib sheets angle upwards a bit) I just went ahead and added wedges. (My impression had been that it was too easy to accidentally release the jib sheet, because of the upward pull).

My mainsheet cleats are still original and work fine, by the way, so it might be a result of your changes.

If you want to replace them, my feeling would be, that any of the big-name cleats would work fine. I happen to use Harken, because that's the brand where my local store had the best selection in the size I needed.

[navahoIII]

GreenLake,

Thanks. That's true, screwing too tightly will cause them to bind. it's hard to find just the right pressure to get them to work well.

The problem with the wedges is that they force the screw to go in at an angle so it will mean putting more holes in the coaming. Mounting them to the centerboard trunk makes sense but I don't like lines running across the cockpit. Hmmmm...

[GreenLake]

When I added the wedges, I was able to use the same holes, but the cleat holder on my center board trunk is made from 1/16" stainless, so angling the bolt in the hole wasn't a problem.

The wedges come with an upper/lower wedge for this purpose so that the nut rests level on the lower wedge.

[Peterw11]

If you're talking about those brown, pressed fiber (?) cam cleats, I have them on my '68 hull and they're mounted on my thwarts. They've been sticky ever since I got the boat, often failing to close properly without a little nudge with my finger.


Also, when I got the boat, they were mounted at 90 degrees to the trunk, pointed directly at the coamings, which made for a pretty awkward reach.
I removed two, of the three, mounting screws, and turned them to 45 degrees to the trunk, drilled new holes and reinstalled the screws, which worked much better, reachwise.

To address the stickiness problem, I disassembled them, (just remove the screw holding the cam to the base plate) and cleaned out the 40 odd years of accumulated dreck under the cam with Simple Green, greased them lightly with white grease, and reassembled them.

It's pretty easy, though keep in mind, they are spring loaded, so keep your thumb on the cam while removing the screw.

After reassembly, the tightness of the screw does determine how easily they close, so you can adjust that to your liking.

[navahoIII]

Thanks, Peter, I'll try cleaning and lubricating them

By the way, they are made of a special, hardened LINEN!

[MrPlywood]

Linen... that's pretty amazing, especially considering that mine are almost 50 years old. I wonder what the mfg. process was.