Loose halyard cleat

[Cneiditz]

Bought a 1981 Sunfish, and while tightening up all the screws, I noticed that the screws for the deck cleat were loose and could not be tightened with a screwdriver. Does anyone know if these screws/bolts have blind nuts below deck that have come loose? Can anyone suggest a fix? I have no inspection port as the boat is a dry boat. Thanks

 

[Alan Glos]

Your boat probably has a wood back-up block under the deck and it may have rotted and the screws are not holding. You can fill the screw holes with thickened epoxy and reattach the cleat, but it probably will not hold the full strain of the halyard. Consider doing the epoxy fix, but then install a cleat on the mast and then cleat off the slack end of the halyard to the (repaired) deck cleat to prevent losing the rig in a capsize. This option beats having to install a deck port and installing a new back-up board. Newer boats have a metal plate under the deck and the deck hardware is installed with self-tapping stainless screws - problem solved.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

 

[signal charlie]

What Sir Alan said...

You can take just one screw out, not both, with hopes that a bit of the wood block remains and the screw keeps it from dropping into hull Probe the insides of the screw hole with a paper clip and see if you hit block, maybe the block is there but it has been stripped out. If so, dowel it with toothpicks and thickened epoxy.

Another trick is to drill a 1/8th inch hole about a 1/4 inch aft of the old hole, and see if wood shavings come out. If they do, keep in one screw to hold the block, take out the other screw, drill the second new hole, put some thickened epoxy in new hole and old hole, put in screw through cleat to new hole, take out first screw, put some thickened epoxy in second new hole and other old hole, move cleat over first new hole, insert screw.

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Another trick is to drill a 1/8th inch hole about a 1/4 inch aft of the old hole, and see if wood shavings come out. If they do, keep in one screw to hold the block, take out the other screw, drill the second new hole, put some thickened epoxy in new hole and old hole, put in screw through cleat to new hole, take out first screw, put some thickened epoxy in second new hole and other old hole, move cleat over first new hole, insert screw.

Sounds like a magic trick... LOL.