Please help me identify this fixture on my Pearson 27

[geoks59]

Hi fellow sailors. I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I own a 1988 Pearson 27 (great boat!). On the starboard traveler riser on the cabin top, there is a lever mounted. It goes through the deck and can be accessed from inside the cabin if I remove the access panel cover. It is not attached to the traveler. The lever is connected to a ball that seems to be eccentric so it tightens when the lever is up and loosens with the lever is down. The change in tension is not significant, but it is noticeable when the lever is moved. I'm at a loss to figure out what this thing is for and what it is supposed to do.

Photos of the device are attached, including a close up. Also attached are photos of the traveler.

If anyone knows what the heck this thing is, please let me know!

Thanks for your help.

 

[dlochner]

Well, it is definitely not a doodad, looks more like a whatchamacallit or tgihamajig. These are devices attached to boats by previous owners to drive subsequent boat owners to online forums looking for answers. Construction workers follow a similar a practice by sending newbies out to look for a sky hook, while plumbers send the kids to look for the left handed monkey wrench.

What's it like on the inside of the boat? Is there something that it can attach to? I don't think it has anything to do with the traveller.

 

[geoks59]

Could be. Since I don't know what the heck it is I can't use the proper name...

There is nothing on the inside that attaches. It goes into the area behind the traveler riser, which is covered by an access panel. There is a hole big enough to accommodate the ball and the machine screws attach a backing plate with nuts. I can't locate anything that would attach to it or even could attach. Anything that would go inside that compartment would be between the cabin top and the headliner. It is a puzzle.

When guests ask me what it is for, I say it raises the big fan for calm days.

Hopefully someone can solve the puzzle. In the mean time, I'll be out looking for the left handed smoke shifter that I never found when I was a Boy Scout...

 

[dlochner]

When guests ask me what it is for, I say it raises the big fan for calm days

That's it, it's a wind shifter.

 

[capta]

Does the black handle like part come off? If it is threaded it could possibly an antenna base for a temporary antenna like for ham radio or a GPS puck?

 

[rgranger]

The surest way to figure stuff like this out is to throw it away. You will soon discover why it was useful and of course.... it is no longer manufactured.

 

[Ted]

Is there a manufacturer's name or part number moulded into the front or backside of this part?

 

[geoks59]

I didn't see a manufacturer's name. I'll look again when the marina lets me back to the boat!

The black part of the handle is threaded, but the rod is solid and no connections inside the cabin.

I've thought about the "throw it away" approach. However, I probably wouldn't be able to let it go, any more than I could throw away all of the other stray parts that seem to accumulate in my workshop. I might need it someday. It is also a conversation piece.

I haven't tripped over it yet, and no lines have wrapped around it at a critical time, so those are pluses.

 

[MitchM]

i see that the black round base is mounted into the right side of the fiberglas of the mainsheet traveler . lewmar's mainsheet system did not appear to require any such doodad component part. your doodad has 2 screws attaching it . i'd be tempted to remove the screws and the doodad base and use the space inside to hide emergency money or jewels .. what a mystery !

 

[jssailem]

Looking at a number of Pearson 27’s online for sale, I think the suggestion of a previous owners thought that the item added an upgrade to the boats signal systems is a viable suggestion.

Best guess in my opinion, a base for an antenna.

 

[Ron20324]

Do you have a swing keel, thus a centerboard lock so it does not bounce around and make noise??

 

[geoks59]

Thanks for the info. No centerboard or swing keel. The antenna base might be viable, but it is in an unusual place and angle. Seems like the mystery continues! Maybe someone out there will be able to solve it with certainty.

 

[rgranger]

I tried a google image search but because of the blue tint of the photo... it came back as a tarp. Can you get a clean photo of it?

 

[geoks59]

I had the same problem with an image search. My photoshop skills aren't good enough to remove the tint. I'll take a better pic when I'm on the boat next.

 

[Mark Maulden]

Anyway to contact the previous owner?

 

[NotCook]

My first guess was a manual
Bulge pump handle. But, if there are no hoses going to or from the backside, third either not that, or the hoses have been disconnected. I assume it moves. If it locks into place in the “up” position, that lends credence to the antennae mount suggestions.

I do, however, also vote for the retractable wind fan deployment handle suggestions.

 

[geoks59]

Here is a slightly better image. The google image search came up with "snow."

Definitely not a bilge pump handle. That is elsewhere. It moves but doesn't really lock in the up position. It is more of a slight friction fit.

Previous owner has no clue and neither does the broker.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I cropped the image down and got somewhat better google image search results, but still no good matches. Various handles and light fixtures but nothing like that.

 

[Will Gilmore]

It looks a bit like a wifi antenna. You orient it for the best angle. However, I would think there'd be at least two, like on a wireless Linksys hub.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[geoks59]

This is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum (or something like that).
If it's a wifi antenna it didn't match the analog radios, 30 year old instruments and traditional cigarette lighter that was the extent of the electronics in the boat when I bought it!!

Keep those suggestions coming. Someone out there must be able to figure this out. I'm tempted to try the "throw it away" option but I don't want to patch the holes in the fiberglass.

Thanks!