Access to bow cleats

C

Craig Gustafson

Junior Member
Greetings from Kansas City. I have a 1980 Ericson 30 plus. The starboard bow cleat has become loose. I want to get access from below but not sure how this is done. There is a wooden plate (for want of the correct term) at the front of the forward cabin, but there doesn't seem to be a way to remove the "plate" without removing the vinyl siding (please forgive my use of bad terminology, I'm a relative novice). What's the best way to get access to the bottom of the bow cleat? Thanks so much for your assistance and words of wisdom.

Best regards,

Craig
 
F

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
On my 1984 E30+ I was able to remove the wooden piece between the v- berth and the bow. Looking up while lying on my back in the v- berth I found the bottom of the anchor locker. Easiest was to remove the anchor locker which allowed me to rebed it to fix a leak there. With the anchor locker removed the bow cleats can be accessed on either side.
If you don't remove the anchor locker you can access the cleats beside the anchor locker but it's a tight fit.
Good luck!
Frank
 
C

Craig Gustafson

Junior Member
Unless i'm really missing something, my anchor locker appears to be solidly molded into the deck and cannot be removed. Common sense suggests there must be a reasonable way to get access from the v-berth area, but so far I appear to be short on a "common sense" solution. It looks like I may have to remove some of the vinyl side panel and also remove the wooden panel at the front of the v-berth. I'm open to better ideas! Thanks for the assistance.

Craig
 
Loren Beach

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Access needed

Craig Gustafson said:
Unless i'm really missing something, my anchor locker appears to be solidly molded into the deck and cannot be removed. Common sense suggests there must be a reasonable way to get access from the v-berth area, but so far I appear to be short on a "common sense" solution. It looks like I may have to remove some of the vinyl side panel and also remove the wooden panel at the front of the v-berth. I'm open to better ideas! Thanks for the assistance.

Craig
Click to expand...

I went onto Yachtworld and had a look at some pix of a sistership. It looked like that small bulkkhead was solid, with no access opening in it. Seems odd to me, but the picture was clear.
Our boat (and 99% of all the boats out there?) has a trimmed-out opening with a cover. Now I am wondering if an opening should be created... :0

If I get down to our boat later I shall try to get some photos and post them up.

FWIW- The Ericson's have matching veneer doors for stuff like that, and the Olson's have cloth snap-on 'doors' with zip-open panels in them. Same access, though.

Loren
 
F

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Craig,
Unless they changed the E30+ substantially between 1980 and 1984, when you open the anchor locker on deck you should find screws about 6" apart all around the lip of the anchor locker. They may have been fibreglassed over by a prior owner or covered in caulking. Removing those screws allows you to lift out the anchor locker after you pry it loose from its bedding compound.
Alternatively you can remove the trim at the bow end of the v- berth, unscrew the board at the foot of the v- berth to get access from below.
Good luck!
Frank
 
Last edited:
woolamaloo

woolamaloo

Member III
I happen to have a picture of that.
anchor_locker.jpg
Last off-season, I removed the hatch and re-cored it. It was item #1 to repair on my survey. This was the picture I took after reinstalling it. I can't say that I even noticed the screws holding in the locker.

Jim
Woolamaloo
1985 E30+ Hull #685
 
F

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Jim,
The screws are all around the top lip which is only about a half inch wide. But that is the right pic.
Frank
 
Christian Williams

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Regarding Frank's alternative access above, if you have the padded vinyl liner that I do, it is pretty easy to remove and replace.

The vinyl edge is hidden by teak trim. The vinyl is stapled down underneath it.

Remove the trim, pull out the rusty staples and draw the vinyl back. To reinstall, just re-staple. The vinyl stretches, so it's easy to get the wrinkles out, and the trim hides the ragged edge.

I'm just going by this picture from a sistership:

30 plus chain locker.jpg
 
Alan Gomes

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
woolamaloo said:
I happen to have a picture of that.
View attachment 16017
Last off-season, I removed the hatch and re-cored it. It was item #1 to repair on my survey. This was the picture I took after reinstalling it. I can't say that I even noticed the screws holding in the locker.

Jim
Woolamaloo
1985 E30+ Hull #685
Click to expand...
My 1984 E26-2, which in many ways is like a shrunken E30+, has the same kind of molded locker pan with the screws running around the perimeter. However, it also had a layer of fiberglass tape over the screws. When I re-rigged my boat a bit over a year ago, the fiberglass tape was removed so that I could get the locker pan out and have access to the bow chainplate, which I wanted to inspect as part of the complete re-rig. With the anchor locker pan out you should have reasonably good access to your bow cleats. When I reinstalled my pan I didn't put the fiberglass tape back over it. I just caulked it and reinstalled the screws, to make future removal easier.

Randy Shelman, who also posts here and has an E26-2, took it one step further and discarded his anchor locker pan altogether. He installed a new wooden bulkhead and floor in there to keep leaks out of the forepeak. Removing the pan increased the size of the locker and allowed him to make a more straightforward locker drain arrangement. If you are interested I'm sure he can provide you with the pics (which may actually already be lurking somewhere on this site).
 
C

Craig Gustafson

Junior Member
Many thanks for all the helpful input! I will take a closer look, hopefully this weekend, to see if I can locate the screws in the anchor locker. And if not, looks like I will get some experience in removing and reinstalling the paded vinyl liner in the v-berth.

Craig
 
Alan Gomes

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Craig Gustafson said:
Many thanks for all the helpful input! I will take a closer look, hopefully this weekend, to see if I can locate the screws in the anchor locker. And if not, looks like I will get some experience in removing and reinstalling the paded vinyl liner in the v-berth.

Craig
Click to expand...
You know, even if there aren't any screws holding it down you could always cut the lip of the anchor locker liner (with an oscillating saw?) and add screws to it to make it removable for the future.
 
woolamaloo

woolamaloo

Member III
Christian Williams said:
Regarding Frank's alternative access above, if you have the padded vinyl liner that I do, it is pretty easy to remove and replace.

The vinyl edge is hidden by teak trim. The vinyl is stapled down underneath it.

Remove the trim, pull out the rusty staples and draw the vinyl back. To reinstall, just re-staple. The vinyl stretches, so it's easy to get the wrinkles out, and the trim hides the ragged edge.

I'm just going by this picture from a sistership:

View attachment 16018
Click to expand...

THIS is a 30+? Is it possible that they had different v-berth heights in this boat? That looks like bed height, instead of middle of the back height like mine. Here's a shot of mine. You cannot see the floor but notice the difference in the panel at the bow.
v-berth.jpg
When I talk fondly of my boat all the Commodore talks about is how hard it is "to get into bed." She's only 5' but it's not the easiest thing for me either. It's pretty damn high.


Jim
Woolamaloo
1985 E30+ Hull #685
 
S

sailorman37

Member II
woolamaloo said:
THIS is a 30+?



I think someone covered the sides with carpet so it changes the view. In mine there is no access from inside the boat to the back of the cleats because of the fiberglass liner - you must go in through the anchor box. Here are pics of my 1980 30+

IMG_4182.jpgDSC02554.JPG
Click to expand...
 
Rick R.

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
Vinyl No Problem

When I replaced my fixed ports I had to remove the vinyl. Like CW said, it's stapled in under the teak trim. Pull staples, move vinyl, do work and re-staple.
 
C

Craig Gustafson

Junior Member
Thanks, again, for all the replies -- all the info is greatly appreciated! If the anchor locker cannot be removed easily, then I will go the route of removing and replacing the vinyl. it sounds like a job that even a novice like me should be able to handle without too much knashing of teeth and pulling of hair. We'll see how it goes! :)

Best regards,

Craig
 
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