Halyard cleat has just a little wiggle…

S

Saltydog87

Active Member
Noticed in my first couple times out with my used sunfish that although the halyard cleat is secure, the fore end has just a little wiggle/play. A 1/4-1/2 turn of the screw with a screwdriver makes it totally solid, but after transport and use I notice a little wiggle/play with that fore end of the cleat.
Checked the wood backing block and it feels good - not appreciable rot, but I wonder if the wood holding that screw is getting a little stripping or rot where the screw is in vs the screw just loosening a bit from vibrations during trailer travel.

Have others found this to be normal in used sunfish? Considering removing the one screw, putting some epoxy in the hole, drilling a new pilot hole and re-placing the screw as I’ve seen suggested in this forum for repairs. The other option I thought of was putting in a longer screw to bite into more wood of the backing block.
 
I have done the epoxy with some fiberglass stuffed in the hole redrill, method. One screw at a time so the wood block does not fall off.
 
Consider moving the cleat up or down a few inches on the mast and fill the old screw holes with epoxy. I did it and it worked fine. (By the way, use brand new screws.)
 
Doug Warren said:
Consider moving the cleat up or down a few inches on the mast and fill the old screw holes with epoxy. I did it and it worked fine. (By the way, use brand new screws.)
Click to expand...

I have been weighing a mast cleat to take stress off of the deck cleat, but a pros/cons discussion would probably be best for its own thread - I’ll start one.

But yeah - the question is the deck cleat and whether I shouldn’t worry about it vs do something about it.
 
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