Replace rigging screws or not?

[capnsensible]

Where does it end? If you're going to renew the rigging screws, what about the chain plates, their attachment to the hull, the hull itself? It may not be a completely full proof test, but your eyes can determine if there is wear on the threads of the turnbuckles, although I really can't see how the threads would be "jiggling about".

So a routine survey, say, every ten years or so, might be a good investment?

 

[capnsensible]

We worry about bits on our boats which very seldom fail and then usually only after abuse but no-one ever worries about those little M10 studs holding the wheels on our cars as we brake from 70mph....not to mention hundreds of other similar pieces of kit upon which we rely every day. I don't even buy the stuff about wire replacement after a given number of years regardless of condition. If a strand breaks I'll see it and replace the wire. They're not all going to break at the same time without warning, especially in the sort of everyday sailing I do. I'm not usually afloat in force 11.

Thank goodness for MOT tests.

Out of interest, how often do you go up your mast to inspect the wire terminals? On my just stopped liveaboard boat I usually nip up about once a year. Or before a long distance trip. I used to do the same with my school yachts. Obviously one needs a good, thorough check before setting out offshore on delivery yachts too.

Im all for sensible (!) mitigation of obvious risks.

 

[NormanS]

So a routine survey, say, every ten years or so, might be a good investment?

Wow! Ten years? I check mine a lot more often than that.

 

[capnsensible]

Wow! Ten years? I check mine a lot more often than that.

The chainplates, their securing points? Me too. But isnt that a kinda average for surveys for insurance? Im not sure most people inspect their boats as often as owners/managing agents do. And probably dont need to. But isnt a routine survey by a 'qualified person' a good idea now and then?

If Im on a long trip, I take a tootle round the boat every morning and check the rigging and sails. It sometimes catches a problem before it gets serious.

 

[JumbleDuck]

So, all riggers are con men who dont know what they are talking about despite having vast experience of hundreds of boats over many years. I see.

Nobody said anything about "all" riggers. OP, was your rigger suggesting that you supply the screws or that s/he does?

 

[JumbleDuck]

If Im on a long trip, I take a tootle round the boat every morning and check the rigging and sails. It sometimes catches a problem before it gets serious.

I do that on every trip. It's a hangover from my gliding period, when the habit of the DI (Daily Inspection) got ingrained. That's how I once discovered that some evil, antisocial sod had stolen four of the clevis pin rings from the rigging of my Westerly Jouster when she lived at Kirkcudbright marina. That could really have spoiled my day.

 

[capnsensible]

I do that on every trip. It's a hangover from my gliding period, when the habit of the DI (Daily Inspection) got ingrained. That's how I once discovered that some evil, antisocial sod had stolen four of the clevis pin rings from the rigging of my Westerly Jouster when she lived at Kirkcudbright marina. That could really have spoiled my day.

Submarining teaches such habits. Also putting trust in pro tradesmen that seems a little flakey by some responders.....

 

[NormanS]

It's a funny thing, but I jump into my car, turn the key, and I'm off. With the boat, it's entirely different. Lots of checking every day.

 

[greeny]

Get a new rigger.

 

[Catalina36]

Thank goodness for MOT tests.

Out of interest, how often do you go up your mast to inspect the wire terminals? On my just stopped liveaboard boat I usually nip up about once a year. Or before a long distance trip. I used to do the same with my school yachts. Obviously one needs a good, thorough check before setting out offshore on delivery yachts too.

Im all for sensible (!) mitigation of obvious risks.

"Out of interest, how often do you go up your mast to inspect the wire terminals? "

Twice a year.

 

[capnsensible]

It's a funny thing, but I jump into my car, turn the key, and I'm off. With the boat, it's entirely different. Lots of checking every day.

I reckon most people are the same, recognising you cant just pull over to sort out a problem. They arent really that complicated, though but its good to appreciate the potential problems.

 

[Catalina36]

Thank goodness for MOT tests.

Out of interest, how often do you go up your mast to inspect the wire terminals? On my just stopped liveaboard boat I usually nip up about once a year. Or before a long distance trip. I used to do the same with my school yachts. Obviously one needs a good, thorough check before setting out offshore on delivery yachts too.

Im all for sensible (!) mitigation of obvious risks.

"Thank goodness for MOT tests."

If you think that MoT tests guarantee that you won't break a wheel stud, dream on.

 

[capnsensible]

"Out of interest, how often do you go up your mast to inspect the wire terminals? "

Twice a year.

Good to hear. Thats probably above average. Do you use a bosuns chair or you got steps?

 

[capnsensible]

"Thank goodness for MOT tests."

If you think that MoT tests guarantee that you won't break a wheel stud, dream on.

I dont think that at all. That would be silly......

 

[john_morris_uk]

Nobody said anything about "all" riggers. OP, was your rigger suggesting that you supply the screws or that s/he does?

He supplies.

 

[DownWest]

So, client gets a nasty surprise when the inner forstay lets go. They thought they had been fired on by somebody from the bang. Bottom swage had let go. They bought it in for the winter check . Boat built in '74 for a RTW trip and we bought it in '82. Every lower swage was suspect, but none of the ones up top were duff. So I replace all the lower ones with mechanically fitted ones, as no roll swager near by. Made up the difference in length with SS bar links after cutting off the duff swages. Then sent her off to the US.
Not impressed with the Italian yard that did the original wages..Several were a bit 'bannana' and all of the lower ones wre corroded.. All were 12mm, so the fix was
expensive.

 

[vyv_cox]

Where does it end? If you're going to renew the rigging screws, what about the chain plates, their attachment to the hull, the hull itself? It may not be a completely full proof test, but your eyes can determine if there is wear on the threads of the turnbuckles, although I really can't see how the threads would be "jiggling about".

Exactly. Time based maintenance is not recommended nowadays, condition based is the way to go. Any sensible owner can inspect bottlescrews, including threads, to determine whether they are fit for future service. Dye penetrant can help but is a little over the top, a small magnifying glass is enough to see a crack.

 

[DownWest]

Exactly. Time based maintenance is not recommended nowadays, condition based is the way to go. Any sensible owner can inspect bottlescrews, including threads, to determine whether they are fit for future service. Dye penetrant can help but is a little over the top, a small magnifying glass is enough to see a crack.

When I used to look at air/craft.. We considerd a dye test a a confirmation of what we thought we had seen. If worrid, then a more complex test with stray current kit, by an outside specialist. Like when Neil Williams bust the main spar on a Zlin. We had a similar a/craft in the hanger and got a call from the CAA to ground it., until tested. They were quite worried at the time.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Submarining teaches such habits. Also putting trust in pro tradesmen that seems a little flakey by some responders.....

Unfortunately I have learned that "professional" does not mean competent. As a colleague of mine used to say, "A professional is someone who knows exactly how bad a job they can get away with, while an amateur is someone who does the best job they possibly can for the love of it." When I bought my glider the instrument panel had been newly overhauled by a professional. Every single connection (pitot, static, total energy) was wrong. Discovering that on aerotow was character-forming.

I bought new rigging for my Hunter 490 from a professional rigging company some years ago, supplying the old stuff as patterns. Every new stay was wrong from a backstay 2m too long to a forestay 1m too short.

I lived in a house which was rewired by a professional shortly before I moved in. He fed three 13A double sockets with a length of 1.5 square millimetre flex from the cellar lighting circuit.

It's a funny thing, but I jump into my car, turn the key, and I'm off. With the boat, it's entirely different. Lots of checking every day.

In the days of chaps with pipes and Rileys, one checked POWER (petrol, oil, water, electrics and rubber) before every trip. Even on the two old (51 and 45 years) I have in use I rarely check, but I know them both very, very well indeed.

 

[Beelzebub]

I've been on board two boats with dismastings due to rigging screw failure. It seems like a no-brainer to me to change them if a professional rigger recommends it. I'm sure the insurers would be very interested in the age of the rigging screws should they fail and you claimed off them.