My Catalina 28 is harbored in MN. I bought the boat last year and the lower end of the stays and turnbuckles were wrapped in white marine tape. It is starting to fray and before replacing it wanted to know the pros of tape versus aluminum / plastic tub coverings or plastic pvc coverings or cloth coverings. The tape does keep the rough edges away from people and sails but does it promote corrosion?
shroud turnbuckles
- Thread starter lake city
- Start date
It sounds like you have open body turnbuckles, with cotter pins through the studs. You do NOT need any covering. I eliminated covers as well as tape years ago, I just bend the cotter pins so they don't stick out. Any time anything is covered increases the chances for deterioration of whatever is under the cover.
thanks for responses
Does anyone use the Defender pvc covers? Is so, what length and inside diameter is required.
Does anyone use the Defender pvc covers? Is so, what length and inside diameter is required.
I too use cotter rings. The do not leave any exposed snags. However, you must make sure the rings fall inboard of the shroud turnbuckle. If they fall outboard, the jib sheet will find a way to hook on to it and snag, leaving you to wonder what could you have caught onto? (Personal embarrassing experience).
Happy sailing,
Happy sailing,
The metal covers look nice but really don't bring much to the party. Covering the turnbuckles with tape or butyl tape will prevent chafe on the sail and possibly save lower extremities from getting holes in them, assuming there are things waiting to puncture you but it's much better to make sure that there's no meathooks waiting for you.
We use the Davis plastic covers on the forward shrouds, with a Forespar wheel thingee (nice techy term that) right above it; the 155 is very low cut and tends to bind there and try to wrap itself around in light winds. As Stu alluded to, if you seal them up in butyl tape, it's a place for water to be retained, and that's the kind of place you don't want water to be retained.
We use the Davis plastic covers on the forward shrouds, with a Forespar wheel thingee (nice techy term that) right above it; the 155 is very low cut and tends to bind there and try to wrap itself around in light winds. As Stu alluded to, if you seal them up in butyl tape, it's a place for water to be retained, and that's the kind of place you don't want water to be retained.
I have a Catalina 27, and made Velcro strips, sewing end to end male and female strips a little less than halfway, with a small hole punched in the end of the male strip. I trim the cotter pins to slightly longer than the diameter of the turnbuckle, thread through the hole in the Velcro strip, through the turnbuckle, and wrap the Velcro strip around the turnbuckle, fastening back into itself. Easy to remove in am emergency (which cotter rings are not!), and doesn't seal water under the tape. Fast to remove if adjusting shroud tension, and eliminates an my danger of meat hooks. You can buy them pre-made, but way cheaper to sew your own.
My last boat had the PVC cover tubes, which can block the turn buckles from view / access for inspection, & they can hold in moisture. We use the self amalgomating (sp?) tape, which works well. If you leave a gap at the base of the turn buckle then it can driain out any moisture that creeps in. But if you've ever been cut on an exposed cotter pin edge, the term meat hook is not an understatement. I think its a prudent safety precaution to tape the turnbuckles at the cotter pins, & also help prevent sail or line chafe.
I have chosen to use the PVC tube covers on my C27. They block most salt spray/splashes from ever getting to the turnbuckles (good). Whenever I wash the boat I can lift the tube, rinse the turnbuckle with fresh water, then lower the tube. The turnbuckles drain and dry easily. The tubes also prevent chafe, or snagging on cotter pins.
In contrast, while the tape will prevent snags, it will also trap moisture and salt--not good. The tape also unravels, while the tubes still look nice after several years.
Randy
In contrast, while the tape will prevent snags, it will also trap moisture and salt--not good. The tape also unravels, while the tubes still look nice after several years.
Randy
Ditto Randy. My Hunter 23.5 came with the plastic tube covers. They look good and prevent snags and lacerations.
Randy, could you please post a close-up picture of your PVC tube covers. I am still undecided between taping and tubing and would like to see how good they look.
On our C30 when purchased the upper stay turnbuckles were in pvc tubes and the lowers shroud turnbuckles were not. The pvc encased uppers were in much worse condition and needed replacement but the lowers were fine.
Blasphemy
Roger Long, IIRC, also posted a picture of how he does his, by cutting the ends down pretty short and only turning one of them.
There are all sorts of ways to deal with the "issue" without covering them up, which has proven over the years to be a not so good idea.
I've spent the past year without any pins at all!!!! [Insert GASP
here!!!]
Really. I just leave them (the upper and lower shrouds, not backstay or forestay) all facing a certain way and it takes months for them to move at all. Pretty noticeable when if they all face fore&aft and one starts to move. Also makes it quite easy to adjust them. I use my boat weekly and am down at the boat more than that, so I'm on top of it. Wouldn't recommend it to folks who don't get to do regular inspections.
If you leave the turnbuckles at an athwartships position, and the cotter pins facing aft, you will rarely get caught when going by.
Roger Long, IIRC, also posted a picture of how he does his, by cutting the ends down pretty short and only turning one of them.
There are all sorts of ways to deal with the "issue" without covering them up, which has proven over the years to be a not so good idea.
I've spent the past year without any pins at all!!!! [Insert GASP
here!!!]Really. I just leave them (the upper and lower shrouds, not backstay or forestay) all facing a certain way and it takes months for them to move at all. Pretty noticeable when if they all face fore&aft and one starts to move. Also makes it quite easy to adjust them. I use my boat weekly and am down at the boat more than that, so I'm on top of it. Wouldn't recommend it to folks who don't get to do regular inspections.
I am also harbored in MN (Lake City) with a Cat 28. When I bought the boat it had taped turnbuckles but I was advised to remove them due to moisture and potential rust. Ran all last summer this way without any problems. I have cotter pins but based on some of the responses will look at replacing with cotter rings.
When I bought my boat it did not have cotter pins in the turnbuckles. First time I was sailing offshore at night the forward starboard lower shroud chain plate failed with a bang due to crevice corrosion (at the time we did not know what caused the bang). We looked around the boat for the cause of the bang and did not see anything so we continued on. It was 02:00 and we were about 5 miles offshore and about 2 miles north of the inlet at Mayport, FL. After about 15 minutes both of the port lower shrouds were flailing about and the mast was rocking. We quickly got the sails down and then watched the mast rock until we made it inside the jetties at Mayport. We made fast at a fuel dock just after the naval base and went to sleep. The next morning when we inspected the boat we saw that one side of the u chain plate failed and the u lifted about 3/8 of an inch on the side of the failure. This release of tension was apparently enough to allow both of the lower shroud turnbuckles on the other side to unscrew. After this warning I completely replaced my standing rigging and all chain plates and tangs and made sure that cotter pins were installed. In my view cotter pins are important safety equipment.If you leave the turnbuckles at an athwartships position, and the cotter pins facing aft, you will rarely get caught when going by. Roger Long, IIRC, also posted a picture of how he does his, by cutting the ends down pretty short and only turning one of them. There are all sorts of ways to deal with the "issue" without covering them up, which has proven over the years to be a not so good idea. I've spent the past year without any pins at all!!!! [Insert GASP