Something loose behind the cockpit.

po-man sailor

Active Member
Ok, now that I've finished all my repairs and starting on my rigging setup, I flipped the boat over and heard a clunk in the stern. I did it again and herd it. It sounded like a solid object probably about like a 4 inch piece of 2x2 lumber. What could it be? I'm probably going to ignore it since everything seems solid but I don't know the inside of these boats. Mine is dry 129lbs. I think its possible when the numbskull that had it before and put the cracks in the bottom of the keel he knocked something else loose.
Thoughts?
 
Everything back there seems solid so I don't understand what it could be. Can a front block get to the back? My cleat did co. Loose and I reinstalled through a slot and aluminum backing plate.

Since I only hear it when I flip THE BOAT OVER... I'll just keep the main sheet IN hand and not use the locking block
 
Send us a recording of the clunk, we can identify each block by the sound it makes :)
Jack wet rotten backer block.JPG
 
Since I've never been inside a fish, I didn't know a block can find its way fully aft. In my case, since the rest of my deck attachments seem good except the missing cleat block, I feel certain now this is whats back there. Im not going to worry about it andThursday.
Clear coating spars and mast tomorrow. Rigging sail and rudder too. May get her in the water thursday.
 
The 1976 would have a wooden bow handle backer, halyard block, halyard cleat, and 2 eyestrap blocks, all of which can migrate around inside the hull. Occam's Razor would suggest that your loose block would be the one that you know is missing.
 
I think your right SC.
All the others you mention are solid. When the cleat pulled out and I cut the slot for my reinstall I put an extended gun barrel inspection LED down the slot and saw what appeared to be the fiberglass retaining straps for the wood block still in place with the block itself missing. I just assumed it rotted away or disintegrated....apparently not, and it has made its way to the back. Oh well, no harm, no foul now. Some day if I'm forced to cut a port ill get it out. Thanks for the info.
 
My 2006 has acorns in it.

Thought I got them all out. Went to move it and a couple more are rattling around.

Too late, I sealed up the hole where they got in. I got 30 or 40 out already. Just before I sealed the hole I tried again and got 3 more.

So in a 100 years from now if you need an Oak tree...
 
I recently installed inspection ports on my Sunfish for this exact reason. Turns out, all of the backing blocks were in place. A piece of adhesive used to hold the blocks in place had fallen off and was rattling around inside the boat.

If it annoys you enough to hear the rattling, it can't hurt to install an inspection port. It is fairly inexpensive and easy to do. However, it can be tricky to get the loose piece out even after installing the port. There are foam blocks that run up and down the length of the boat, and if the piece is on the other side of one of those blocks, it will take some maneuvering before you can actually reach whatever is loose. It's no big deal of course, but if you keep your boat at a marina, you may look like a crazy person for about 20 minutes as you run back and forth lifting and shaking the bow and stern around.
 

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