What is this part?

Hi Everyone!

Does anyone know what this part is? It's just under 3' long, stainless, weighs between 5 and 7 lbs. It has holes for what look like 1/2" bolts. This was laying in the cabin in the 1970 Ericson 32-2 that I bought in November.

Possibly unrelated-There are two holes drilled in the transom that may or may not match up with the part. I just found the holes the other day, and haven't had a chance to fit the two together to see if they are related.

Thanks!

Dean

Er... Obviously after-market accessory A brain teaser, and a good one.

Based on length and shape, I'd venture a wild guess - and may be wildly wrong - that it may be a self-tacking jib rail.

Alternatively, it may be a handle on the transom, as you suggested.

Regards,
Stan

Self tacking jib rail

Never thought of that! It is quite curvy. I'll bring it to the boat tomorrow and put it different places until it looks right.

1) Towel rack?

2) Hand rail for cabin?

3) Whatchamacallit?

4) Thingamajig?

Swim Ladder?

Right after my wife asked "What's a transom?" She suggested that maybe it could be mounted on the transom and used to pull yourself out of the water. She may actually be on the right track, but I think I'd want to mount a actual ladder under it.

How about a fiddle you put in front of the stove, waist-level, so you don't bump into it when pots are on the burners?

As a swim ladder handle, that seems like a lot of torque applied to those two bolts.

tenders said:

How about a fiddle you put in front of the stove, waist-level, so you don't bump into it when pots are on the burners?

As a swim ladder handle, that seems like a lot of torque applied to those two bolts.

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A safety "crash bar" for keeping the crew from being thrown onto a hot range top is usually 1" SS tubing. This pictured piece looks too light duty for such usage.

Still do not know what it IS, tho.


Loren

Is there a bucket missing a handle somewhere?

Also, cruel joke if it's a transom swim ladder handle for a '70 E32. I haven't tested this, but would guess that the transom of our boats is the most difficult point of entry of the hull's complete circumference - high, reverse, and defended by a pushpit once you get up there!

I'm warming to a rigging attachment point - if not a self-tending jib, perhaps a place on the deck near the foot of the mast to which to attach unused halyards?

I love these "puzzler" types of questions, especially when the answer truly isn't known to begin with!

tenders said:

I'm warming to a rigging attachment point - if not a self-tending jib, perhaps a place on the deck near the foot of the mast to which to attach unused halyards?

Click to expand...

I like this idea. Easy enough to look for matching holes on the cabintop. If not this, I'm going with towel rack. As for self tacking jib, I think it looks too light duty.

Never seen a curved one but it could be a horse to attach the mainsheet in an old end of boom set up to keep it clear of tiller.

I vote for exterior use. Five pounds of stainless with half-inch bolts, that ain't for toilet paper.

Is there any scoring of the metal? Any sign of other hardware ever attached, as with a traveler?

Nope, doesn't go here, maybe here.....


Well, it doesn't go on the transom. But I do have a 3/4" hole on the port side to fill for some reason. The angle was wrong, the mounting flanges didn't fit flush on the curve of the transom.

It doesn't really fit anywhere near the stove. It would make a great grab bar or hand-hold. It seems just the right weight to hang onto while the boat is pitching about, but I can't find anywhere to mount it.

The bar is 1/2" solid stainless, not a hollow tube. I can do a pull up on the bar without hardly any flexing. (I weigh 210lbs ) so it's not extremely lightweight. I could see it used for a light duty jib or possibly some type of mainsheet traveler. There aren't any drilled or abandoned holes in the deck, so it may have been a future project. There are a number of small light scratches on it, but not in any pattern that would indicate use. I think it was just floating around in a compartment of parts for a while. Very light bits of rust in some areas.

I held it up in various places around the boat, and still couldn't find anything. I sent a letter to the previous owner, but it was snail mail, and the service has been spotty lately, so I don't know how long a reply will take.

If I find out what the original intention was, I'll be sure to let you know.

Perhaps a twisted, or thoughtless, Previous Owner

The PO couple have acquired it from somewhere else, thinking he had an alternate use for it, 'cuz 1/2"d ss would have plenty of alternate uses. Then he forgot about it and left it on the boat when it was sold.

Or, he knew it would drive the new owner crazy, and left it onboard, on purpose.

Looks like it came off a ss vat or tank, with an 8'+ diameter.

Certain demented people have been known (or discovered) to toss a random nut, screw or ring-pin into a cockpit...knowing it would be found and cause the skipper anguish to find the answer to the question "where'd this come from?". A well placed poke with a cattle prod from Farm & fleet is suitable punishment for this infraction IMHO.

Good luck with your search. Keep us posted!

Confound it!

Traveler for a self-tacking jib? On --some other boat?

Anyhow, no boat owner who ever came into possession of that handsome piece would ever throw it away. Or at least I wouldn't. It could be like Roman coins found in Newfoundland. Did Romans discover the New World in 300 AD? Or is it more likely that Euro settlers emigrating in 1890 brought with them their prized Roman coin collections?

Could be Roman stainless steel, the formula for which lost for centuries thereafter....

The hole on the port side sounds like it was intended to be a bilge pump discharge or a fuel tank vent. On my '69 E32, the bilge pump discharge is between the transom and the waterline, and the fuel vent is on the starboard side of the transom. Being on the side adds to the risk of a siphon if you're heeled sharply in that direction - perhaps the PO intended to relocate for this reason.

Of course a wide open 3/4" hole adds its own risks to the equation too....

Open Hole/Alternate curvy rod ideas

Instead of patching the hole, I'll just add a second bilge pump discharge or something similar. It's much higher up, so I could get a nice powerful stream arcing behind the boat. Maybe tap into a raw water pickup and add an LED light so I can have a nice blue fountain coming out the back at night.

Whatever it is, I'm not going to throw it away. Maybe I'll attach it to the front of my car.

Strikes me as something that came out of an institutional sized kitchen. And buddy, I KNOW institutions.

But no, the engineer in me would not let me throw it away. I once put a stainless BBQ grill lid handle on the sliding hatch of a boat just for the handle. I got more comments, (good ones), about that damn silly handle than I did the 12 coats of brightworks..

Having been the previous owner of the mystery part I can tell everyone exactly what it is.
It is a handrail for boarding a passenger car on a Russian railroad train. No kidding. I got it from the neighboring slip after they sailed away to BVI some years ago. His company manufactured them and he was using it as a grab rail on the piling between our boats to help with boarding. When I moved to a new slip there was no way to use the rail so it was just laying there in the boat.
ray stevens

Oh My...

RayS said:

Having been the previous owner of the mystery part I can tell everyone exactly what it is.
It is a handrail for boarding a passenger car on a Russian railroad train. No kidding. I got it from the neighboring slip after they sailed away to BVI some years ago. His company manufactured them and he was using it as a grab rail on the piling between our boats to help with boarding. When I moved to a new slip there was no way to use the rail so it was just laying there in the boat.
ray stevens

Click to expand...

Thanks Ray!

Truth really IS stranger than fiction !



Loren