The Adventures of Kismet the Jarcat (Catamaran)

This blog documents the modifications necessary to get seaworthy (warts and all), then the adventures (hopefully) on board our Trailer Sailer 6.1 metre Jarcat6 Catamaran, Kismet.

Sunday, 10 December 2017

Rear Traveller support

The main traveller is not supported for the entire transom width. It's screwed down hard at each end for about 150mm but has a 6mm gap to the top of the transom for most of its length.
You can see the gap in this picture.

The traveller is pulled down to reduce the gap to about 4mm in the middle. The gap near the ends is about 7mm.
There has been some attempt to use plastic spacers on the screws but at least one doesn't have anything.

My plan is to get some 6mm thick hardwood, seal it, then epoxy it to the top of the transom. The existing screws appear to be long enough and they will be epoxied in and will be the main strength for holding the traveller down.

Should I just use a bedding compound or epoxy the "filler" to the transom?
I doubt the screws will hold into the hardwood filler very well anyway.

Alternatively I have spotted a 6mm thick PVC section that I could use instead of timber but since epoxy won't hold it hardly at all it would indeed be just a filler piece.

What is also a little disturbing (what isn't about this boat?) is that the transom appears to have been made incorrectly then repaired. Note the 40mm deep top of the transom where it has been attached to the transom below it. How well is it secured? I don't know! If that 40mm (odd) deep section was 7mm thicker there would not have been an issue!

I'm tempted at at least add two full length m5 bolts and nuts (if they'll fit, else m4 or 5/32") through the traveller and top-of-transom down to either side of (inside) the motor well. Maybe I can even add more than that.

I have also just found that I can buy 8g Stainless Steel screws up to 3 inches in length. Those sunk into epoxied holes would hold the whole lot together.

As always - comments welcome.

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2 comments:

  1. Unknown13 December 2017 at 15:55

    Dont forget that successive coats of epoxy need to go on while the first coat is still 'green' - ie slightly tacky to get the best bond strength. Otherwise the surface needs to be sanded with sharp paper. Fill the gap with wood, epoxied to the existing timber (after sanding back) then TPRDA & epoxy it, paint it then bed the track on with your sealant of choice & epoxy. Take the screws down into the bottom timber ( I wouldn't trust the workmanship of the previous "builder". The loading on this track is highest over the gap he has left - even then it is not as high as the tack track.

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  2. Johny13 December 2017 at 17:01

    Thanks yet again Don. I hadn't realised that the Bote-cote coats should be applied while sticky (maybe I should re-read the doc.). When I had a hard look at the way the traveller was held to the transom then pictured the mainsheet tearing it all up... I shuddered. I'll pull some screws out of the traveller and see how far they go down at the moment. I assume the transom area my arrow is pointing at is usually one piece.

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