Re the first part: On 7/22/19 5:38 PM, Gerry Lempicki via montgomery_boats wrote:
OK, as I learn more I see the benefit of improving the traveler to a ball bearing unit that is easily adjustable. Mine must be original as it has detents to pin it in place, and doesn't adjust or slide easily. I've read Jerry's post about the ball bearing traveler, and I want to make sure I understand before I buy parts or drill holes. It sounds like one end of the control line anchors to a strap eye mounted on a side of the cockpit, goes around a sheave on the car, back through a Harken H 83 block (what is this? I can't find anything with this H 83 designation. Some sort of vertical mounted block?), to the v-cleat mounted above, then leave some slack control line, and head to the other side by a v-cleat, through Harken block, around sheave on car and back to a strap eye. Is that correct? Any corrections to this or details on the block would be appreciated. I checked the photosite, but didn't see anything showing this.
Here's some (reduced size) pics TomB posted quite a while back, showing his OEM traveler on cockpit floor (like yours presumably, fixed locations with a pin to hold in a given position). And, a movable traveler he rigged up, showing more or less what you describe. A sliding 'car' (where the traveler block attaches), a piece of 'track' for it to slide on, lines through sheaves to move it each direction, one line fast to each side, and cam cleats to hold line(s) in position. In this case IIRC Tom found some old integrated sheaves/cams that are somewhat unusual, but the basic setup is the same. There are a variety of flavors of this basic design. Main difference is what track and car you use, and how the free ends of the lines are routed to where you manipulate them. Some hardware vendors sell kits or packages for this purpose. Some have a single loop of line rather than two separate lines. The uber-fancy version is called a "windward sheeting car." It has a similar setup, but it automatically releases the cam on the leeward line (by tension of sheet on a mechanical system built into the car). So you only have to pull in or let out the windward line to adjust traveler position. They are stupid expensive new, but one happened to come with my boat when I bought it, so I have that. cheers, John -- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
