Must be Fix the Boat time

[Frank B.]

So how did that happen? A little over time or all at once, kinda scares me a bit.  The pictures shows one of the cleats on the inside of the bulkhead passageway, the other is similar but not as bad.  It means that the bulkhead(s) have moved towards amidship, not something that they are supposed to do. A confirming clue is that the opening between the bulkhead sides is about 3/4" more narrow at the top than the bottom.  And to answer an obvious question, no I did not over tension my standing rigging, nor did I leave it sloppy loose.  I actually use a Loos gauge and set it at the low end of the recommended setting.

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Unlike rFrance I'm not leaking at the rub rail other than the miniscule amount that has always been there because of the outboard chainplates in that area.  It is so small that it evaporates prior to making it to the bilge.

So tomorrow I'll go up and loosen the rig to sloppy and put an expanding clamp in there to push it back to where it belongs (there are identical cleats on the backside, the bulkhead is only twelve inches wide at that point with an opening to the hull), bring the old cleats home to use as a pattern to make two new ones, make sure the holes do not have any rot, a real worry, Compacs use polymer egg carton core material everywhere except for the mast step, where they use wood. 

I really just wanted to go sailing, two perfect days coming up, high seventies, steady winds 10-13, but realize I gotta fix this thing before it gets worse.   

[Norm L.]

No one wants surprises. Even worse not knowing their cause.
What else could cause that distortion?  If you just sailed it back from Ireland there might be some reasons for all kinds of flex.

[Wyb2]

The cleat looks like plastic.  Starboard?  Plastics do age, some less gracefully than others. Maybe a good application for a hardwood block in the future.

It is curious how the center is pushed down like that, as if the surface was angled away from where it was visibly bearing on the bulkhead.

[Frank B.]

Yes, a polymer of some kind, probably starboard (HDPE?) Cleat is too small, I think to consider wood and depend on grain integrity over time.  I bought a piece of HDPE to make replacement cleats, the originals lasted 18 years.  I'm somewhat encouraged that it appears that the screws did not move, the plastic just broke. At any rate, I'll know in a few hours, getting ready to make the 35 mile trip up and deal with it.

[Frank B.]

Things went OK but some curious issues.

I loosened the standing rig to sloppy, inserted an expanding clamp and jacked it back to where it belonged which was touching the back cleats.  Then I took off the front cleats, brought them home to replicate. It was noted about the taper on the front section of the cleat, and that is exactly what it was.  Why?? Seems like that would make it weaker and it did shear at that point.  Another thing I thought was strange is that the screws that hold the cleats on did not move despite only having .25" into the substrate which is that bead board material that is also plastic.  Why so little?? Is this thing sacrificial??

I'll email Hutchins, all this is OEM, maybe they can answer these questions.
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[Wyb2]

The fact that those little screws with only .25" of engagement(!) didn't fail really seems to indicate that the HDPE basically aged out of its service life.

I took an injection molding course at one point.  The professor said "An environmentalist knows that plastics never degrade.  A plastics engineer knows that plastics start degrading the day they leave the mold"

[Frank B.]

According to Matt Hutchins (Compac) the taper is there because of the camber of ceiling.  However it is at a much greater angle than necessary to close the gap at the top.  I think my replacement will be closer to the actual angle getting me more contact surface to the bulkhead.  Also the short penetration of the screws is also on purpose, I guess they were trying to avoid going through any of the GRP above.  It did hold until the plastic gave up.

[Frank B.]

well It's fixed. Made the new inboard cleats. Had to go up 1/4" in screw length to get a bite.  Then tuned the rig to the minimum Loos recommendation for that size standing rigging.  Did not have time to take it for a sail to see if it is going to stay put.  fingers crossed.

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[Charles Brennan]

Frank,
Nice workmanship.
Charles Brennan

[Norm L.]

Charles, totally agree.

[Wyb2]

Looks great.  What kind of plastic did you end up going with for the replacements?

You could swap one or more of those screws out for a through-bolt if you have concerns on their bite into the cabin top.  Pan head machine screws are not obtrusive on deck.

[Frank B.]

Looks great.  What kind of plastic did you end up going with for the replacements?

You could swap one or more of those screws out for a through-bolt if you have concerns on their bite into the cabin top.  Pan head machine screws are not obtrusive on deck.

I used HDPE for the cleats.  That area is over two inches thick because as you might expect it is the mast support area. I think the extra length will get me the bite I need, as the next 1/4" is probably all GRP.  I'm not concerned about penetrating from the inside out, but would like to avoid going all the way through because of the potential for water penetration if those screws work very much with rig stress.