Forward Hiking Straps

clo126

New Member
Does anyone have any good ideas on replacing the line that holds up the forward hiking straps? I can't seem to get enough of myself into the hatch and then around the bulk head to tie a new line. Maybe the rubber grommet pops out, but I thought I ask before I start prying it out.:confused:
 
rubber grommet

I was thinkng the same thing. I then decided to paint the entire interior of the cockpit and refresh the whole boat. My grommets simply popped out without much force. Looks lke they had some kind of sealant around the perimeter gluing them in place in addition to friction. I think when you replace the shock cord, it doesn't have to be very tight as it was only designed to be holding up the weight of the hiking strap.
 
Hiking Strap Line

I believe that line is supposed to be a bungee (shock cord). I replaced mine by merely hooking in the correct length bungee. I had to straighten the hooks slightly to fit through the grommets.
 
Did Catalina leave out the bungee support for those hiking straps in Mod 3? My Mod 3 has the hiking straps held up forward by just mounting the metal bracket (that the webbing goes into) about 2 or 3 inches above the cockpit floor. There's not a hint of a place where a support bungee would have been placed.
 
Here’s what I did. I bought, from West Marine 7 feet of either 1/8 or 3/16 shock cord (bungee, it is red I don’t remember which, West Marine p/n 159103 or 126854. I then fed all of it through the hole, keeping one end out of the hole and then took a coat hanger that I bent into a curve with a hook on one end and reached inside the boat through the cuddy cabin and around through the opening under the seats. After a numbers of tried a was able to grab the cord and pull it around and out the cuddy cabin opening. I then tied a number of knots in that end of the cord, as many knots as it takes to keep it from passing through the small hole, kink of like a stopper knot. Now pull the other end of the cord until the stopper knot is up against the hole on the inside of the boat. I then cut the cord about six inches long. Now push the end of the cord back through the hole, you are making a small loop, and I used whipping line to bind both cords together. I then took rigging tape (West Marine p/n 318600 white) and wrapped it around the whipping line, just to dress it up a bit. I then did the same thing on the other side of the boat. You now have small loops on the outside of the holes, and can use ¼ inch shock cord (bungee) West Marine p/n 126847 white) to run under the hiking straps and hook to the small loops you have made. It looks great and works as it should. If you need pictures or more info email me at [email protected]
 
Bungee

Greg's way sounds interesting but I did mine one week too early to try his way. I tried to find plastic "molly bolts" that would work, but couldn't so I used the old fashioned metal kind, plus some washers behind the head where I could loop the bungee. Nice for now, but when rust comes may be sorry. I also think one could use a wooden dowel a couple of inches long and small enough diameter to go thru the grommet at the same time as a small line with a loop which would be outside for later attachment of the bungee. That loop line would be attached to the middle (probably notched there) of the dowell so that dowell and line would be inserted together, then the line pulled back out and the dowell pulled or teased perpendicular inside the grommet so that when bungee is attached to loops at both grommets, the dowels would be held in place by tension. I'll probably do that next time. RK
 
Rubber Expansion Plugs

I was thinking some kind of solution involving a dowel or rod too. Then it hit me: how about an expansion plug? I don't have the holes in my mod 3 that you have, so I don't know the size required, but surely they come in a variety of sizes and in stainless steel. Just substitute a stainless steel eye bolt for the cinching bolt. If you google "rubber expansion plug" or bolt you'll see lots of hits.
 

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Personally I dont use the bungee - I keep my hiking straps adjusted so that they are above the floor on their own . The bungee seemed to in the way of hatch access on my older boat.

Rob
 

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