Plastic cleats?

[Frank Gloss]

I just notices that on my 1984 C-22 that the cleats are made of some kind of plastic as they would bend. What are these things? Has anybody had a failure? Do I need to change them out to "real cleats"? If so, what are your recommendations.Still learning.Thanks Frankfrankgloss@home.com

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

Marelon?

I know that seacocks are made from Marelon, a type of plastic, so I'm assuming your cleats are made of similar stuff. From what I understand, Marelon does have an age span. The older it gets, the more likely for failure to occur. I wouldn't necessarily go replace them today but would definitely plan to do so in the future. It certainly won't hurt and you'll feel a lot better leaving your boat tied up to solid new cleats.LaDonna

 

[Mike I]

Nylon

On my C-30 I have two sliding cleats that are black nylon, and I used nylon cleats on my 22. They are inexpensive and strong although available only in black.

 

[Jim]

No worries (about cleats)

The black plastic cleats on my boat are 20 yrs old and show no signs of getting weaker. All 4 are in use all the time. The boat stays in the water and has been moored in some pretty rough qwave action over its life. I am more worried about my dock lines than my cleats.

 

[Bruce Jones]

Just replaced my plastic cleats

Just this weekend I replaced all 4 of my plastic cleats with galvanized cleats. Probably overkill but last week was rafted up to a much larger sailboat and had one of the cleats break off at the arm.

 

[Aldo]

I Agree with Jim

Frank: I agree exactly with Jim. I used to be concerned about the plastic cleats, but after 20 years they are fine. If you are still worried, what I do is run a line between the 2 on the bow, and another line between the 2 on the stern. (This is actually a 1 inch strap that I use to tie off my tiller). This way, if one would break, or if a dockline would come off, the other cleat would still do the job. But really, my boat has been in the slip for years, and there has never been a problem with the cleats. You should, however, check the tightness of the screws every few years. Aldo