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Spring line attachment to boat

SeaRogue

Member II
I am interested in knowing what others have done regarding the attachment of the spring line to your boats.

I have the E32-3 with a track on the outside rails. It would seem logical to attach the spring line to that track. I have seen a track car with a cleat mounted on it although it seemed a bit pricey at over $110.

I could use the car that the spinnaker snatch block attaches to I suppose. It just has the ring on it that the block attaches to. I would have to rig a shackle or something to attach the spring line to the ring on the car, if I went that route.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

Blue Chip

Member III
spring line

Here in Alameda in the winter as you know the wind switches and everyone seeems to add a spring line to keep the boats from wandering all over the slip. We also have a ring: on a car on an outside track but have saved over $100 by just tying the line to the ring with a bowline. when we come back in. Ten days or so later when we w go out again we just untie the knot.
The money has now been added to the Schnapps and hot chocolate fund!
 

WBurgner

Member III
Springs

Tony,
I went for the car mounted cleats on the outboard tracks. My only complaint is that it is hard to get two lines cleated off well with full dock lines. I may drop back to 1/2" for the springs.
 

SeaRogue

Member II
Thanks

I appreciate the input. I will probably go with the ring and a bowline or perhaps a caribiener on the end of the spring line to attach it to the ring. I will put the money I save in my tequila fund....I don't do hot chocolate :egrin:
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
I use one of these and loop the spiced end of my docklines back on themselves.

545012.jpg
 

Meanolddad

Member III
Ditto on Treilley's response, we are in a very tight slip so use spring lines to keep the boat from moving around much.
Greg
 

TRMN8R

Member II
In our marina, at the foot of Lake Erie, the surges can be nasty, and the boat(s) get kicked around pretty bad when the wind is up. I never tied a mid-ship spring, instead opting for a looooon spring from the bow cleat back to the finger slip mid-ship (about 20 ft). Then I tie a spring from the aft cleat on the dock to both the double cleats behind the winches and forward to the same finger slip cleat mid-ship. That way when I'm aboard, I can move the boat closer to the dock using those lines.

With all the movement in the marina, never a problem (so far).
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
My E38 came with two of those expensive Schaefer rail cleats. I can tell you that they are very much worth it. If you raft up with anyone you will appreciate them even more. RT
 
The shackle was worth it

Our 38 has the Schaefer cleats. We move them a lot, and a short lanyard on the pin shackle made it so much easier to move than the cleat w/knob on our last boat that I'll always stick with these. My wife is able to deal with them, which makes life much better for me...in lots of ways.
 

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Sven

Seglare
Round peg in a circular hole

My E38 came with two of those expensive Schaefer rail cleats. I can tell you that they are very much worth it. If you raft up with anyone you will appreciate them even more. RT

We just bought a couple from Defender a month or two ago. They are really convenient, but the pin seems just a bit too large for the holes in the track so they don't completely set.

Do the tracks come with not just different outside dimensions but also different hole sizes ?

I'm thinking of using the Dremel to shave off a 1/16th or so of the pin diameter unless someone else has a better idea.


-Sven
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
Different hole sizes in Genoa track, fact or fiction?

Sven and all, I can attest to the fact that there can indeed be different sized holes in the same size track. Years ago I replaced the 1" aluminum track on our boat with 1 1/4" bronze track on our E31, having bought two 12 foot lengths of the stuff for the job. They were absolutely identical in appearance when handled side by side but for the two different pin hole sizes. Actually I didn't notice the difference until attempting to install the new track cars that I had to buy also. I'm sorry, it was too long ago to remember hole measurements but the final fix was to simply drill out the smaller holes to the same size of the larger ones. I can tell you that the larger hole was a standard drill size and that the entire process took less than five minutes from start to finish. Drilling aluminum if that's what you have would be just as easy if not easier. I'd be tempted to do that rather than reducing the diameter of the pin. Hope this helps, Glyn
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
We just bought a couple from Defender a month or two ago. They are really convenient, but the pin seems just a bit too large for the holes in the track so they don't completely set.

Do the tracks come with not just different outside dimensions but also different hole sizes ?

I'm thinking of using the Dremel to shave off a 1/16th or so of the pin diameter unless someone else has a better idea.


-Sven

Hmmm, that is a bit wierd. Mine fit fine, and I assumed they always have but maybe some PO did what Glyn suggested, which would be my solution as well. I suppose you could turn the pin diameter down a bit but I have no idea how you would take it apart. FWIW, my toerails, tracks seem to fit all manner of sliding block bases, rings, etc. without issue. Maybe there was a non-standard track used on the early Ericsons?

RT
 

Sven

Seglare
Hmmm, that is a bit wierd. Mine fit fine, and I assumed they always have but maybe some PO did what Glyn suggested, which would be my solution as well. I suppose you could turn the pin diameter down a bit but I have no idea how you would take it apart.

I looked at the pins to see if there is a way to extract them for turning, but I didn't see how. There has to be a way but a dremel around the edges of the pin is probably easier.

The other track fittings work fine so drilling all the holes may not be the best solution as that would make them all looser.

I really should measure the holes and measure the pins on the all the track fittings.



-Sven
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
It would not be surprising that the pins in the cleats are off-spec. You might want to put a mic on the pins and try to get a spec from Schaefer for the pin diameter. It might be their problem.... RT
 

Mindscape

Member III
Cleats and pin size

My PO left me 3 cleats two of the schaefers (sp?) and one other, not sure of the brand. I use two as fairly permanant midship cleats. these are the schaefers and the pins have not been a problem. I also have both harken and garhauer cars and the pins fit fine. I never even considered the pin hole size (maybe I just got lucky). I'd guess as mentioned before that it's a problem with cleats being out of spec.

I use the thrid cleat as needed - it's pretty handy to have every now and again.

I also have a couple of the pictured rings on the outside tracks. I use these primarliy as a place to shackle a preventer for the boom when running.

BTW - as has been discussed in other threads Garhauer stuff seems to be pretty well made in particular for the price. There is sometimes some challenges in getting stuff delivered on time. In general I've been able to avoid this by buying at the Chicago Strictly Sail Show. They bring a good inventory and often discount at the show. One year I called and made sure they were bringing blocks I was looking for and they said they'd make sure. Don't know if there is a similar show in your area but you might save a few more $$$'s.
 
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kevin81

Member II
I purchased two 1 1/4" track cleats from Garhauer earlier this year. The price was great - $45 each. If I remember correctly, they were shipped and delivered in about a week. The pin size was not an issue - the only problem I had is I had to trim the slide about an inch to allow it to slide onto the track. The outboard tracks on the E34 (1989) are slightly recessed.

Two other dock neighbors also purchased cleats from Garhauer; one an E29 and a Cape Dory 27. Neither had any problems with pin size.

Kevin
s/v Serenidad
1989 E34
 
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