We decided s/v Honey Ryder really needs a rope clutch to help control the furling line on the head sail. We happened to mentioned this to fellow Salty Dawg Craig off s/v Il Sogno. "Don't go buy one. I have several extra onboard. What brand/kind are you looking for?" What brand/kind? OMG - awesome! We didn't care what brand/kind. The next day Craig popped by with a whole bag full of rope clutches. Seems he replaced all his and saved the old ones just in case. Sweet!
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| s/v Rum Runner's rope clutch |
Since then, Tom has been kicking around in his head how best to install our new (to us) rope clutch. We finally found the answer when walking the docks at Crown Bay Marina - St Thomas. Fellow Caliber 40 owner and Salty Dawg s/v Rum Runner has a rope clutch installed using a stainless steel bracket. That save evening Tom fashioned a pattern for ours out of paper. Now we would just need to find someone to weld one up. Maybe when we get to Sint Maarten. Hum?
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| Mr Marine Starboard in action |
Wait! Mr Marine Starbard to the rescue! Tom cut two pieces of Marine Starboard to length. He also added a piece of leftover cutting board material from another project.
These three were through bolted as one to s/v Honey Ryder's toe rail. Then he used large lag screws to attached the rope clutch to the through bolted piece.
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| Closed position |
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| Open position |
Voila! Rock solid, simple AND he didn't have to drill through the deck - which would have been a PIA.
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| In action |
We put it to the test the other day on our upwind sail back to Virgin Gorda - North Sound. It worked like a charm. Woo Hoo! Thank you SO much Craig off s/v Il Sogno.
Hi, guys. Since this one is out on the rail, it's going to need a fresh water rinse fairly often. They tend to be salt crystal accumulators and those crystal will both jam the clutch and do a number on the line.
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