To fiddle or not to fiddle...?

[Ben_e_Toe]

Advice sought from the experienced.....

My boat currently has a jammer system on the gooseneck end of the boom for the reefing pennants and outhaul. For comfort (and laziness) I want to remove the jammers and trail the lines back to the cockpit. Whilst I'm reasonably happy with fitting the necessary blocks to the mast and boom and with installing additional jammers on the coach roof, I have a further dilemma...

The existing lines from the mast are led back through two sets of four-way deck-mounted sheaves. The sheaves have three visible screw/bolt heads on deck, but are inaccessible below deck as the cabin is lined with a separate, thin, rigid-plastic liner. Clearly I need to remove these to upgrade them to double-decker sheaves

My dilemma.... Are the sheaves likely to be: a) bolted through the deck to loose nuts, b) bolted through the deck to fixed studs or c) screwed to the deck? If I undo one to 'have a look' will I release a free nut on the underside that I will then be unable to re-fix?

 

[snowleopard]

a mass production boatbuilder would probably use bigheads (nuts with a perforated flange which are glassed in place). i would expect beneteau to set the whole thing up with jigs. on the other hand if i'm wrong it would be a right pain to have a loose nut inside the head lining.

when you are ready to change the deck organisers, what have you got to lose? if the nuts are captive you've saved yourself a lot of work, if they aren't you'll have to take the headlining out anyway.

of course the easy way is to call the builders, they would surely be able to tell you.

 

[AlexL]

I would contact the builders, but both my last boat - MoodyS31 and My current Boat (Hanse 371) have tapped aluminium plates in inacessable places. I did exactly what you are describing on the Moody - put in double decker organisers. A word of warning - use EXACTLY the right length bolts - otherwise they may distort or even crack the moulded headlining - and seal the threads with a bit of sealant.