Fasten cleat to shroud - how?

[Outrageous]

I had a small halyard run up to the stbd spreader, for flags & my radar reflector. It was secured to a shroud by a plastic horn cleat with a screw & plate. In one of our races, it came lost, the backing plate went overboard, etc. etc. Rather than buy a replacement of the type that failed, while I was at the chandlery, a professional rigger told me to just get the type of cleat in the photo and "sieze" it to the shroud with "siezing wire" which I also bought.

He mentioned that if it slid, I should buy some type of tape, but only a special non-corrosive type. So I did the messy job shown in the picture and yes, the cleat slides. So ....

1. do I give up and buy something else? what?
2. get taught a more professional way to try to tie 2 rolling hitches with wire on the shroud? your advice appreciated...
3. buy a specific type of tape which won't corrode the shroud (named what?), wrap the shroud with it, and then do the wire rolling hitches atop the tape?

Am I so new I just bought a bucket of water line?

[Minnewaska]

For flags, I just tie the halyard around the shroud itself with about three half hitches and it holds for the day. That is probably not good enough for a radar reflector.

That job isn't looking ship-shape. Sorry, you know that. If you need something stronger, I would take it to a padeye or cleat on deck or the mast, rather than fix something to the shroud.

[celenoglu]

A few turns around the shroud and tying the end to the turnbuckles holds well.

[Kee]

One of these might do the trick:

Shroud Cleat

[Omatako]

Go and have a look here

Barton Marine - Products - Special cleats

[SoulVoyage]

Actually your idea of a Clam Cleat instead of a standard 2-horn cleat isn't a bad idea.

When I bought my boat, it had some small standard 2-horn cleats on the shrouds that were always snagging sails. Those clam cleats would snag less.

So what you need is to get some friction tape and re-do your cleat job on TOP of the section of friction tape that you've wrapped around the shroud.

Wire wrap it a little tighter than you had, tuck in the ends of the wire, and get some white rigging tape and wrap the s.s. wire. The riggiing tape looks just like white electrical tape but has UV blockers built in so it won't rot so quickly in the sun.

You should always have rigging tape in your maintenance kit anyway, as you'll want to tape rigging cotter pins, etc, so that they don't tear sails.

So the "special" tape types you'll want are friction tape and rigging tape.

For anchoring the radar reflector, I might suggest replacing the nylon line with small diameter stainless steel line and then anchoring that to the shroud with a stainless steel wire-rope clamp taped with rigging tape....as having your radar reflector fall on deck because of an abraided line is a definite downer....especially if it falls on someone's head.

My radar reflector is "permanently" mounted out of the way in the quadrant above the spreaders and between the upper shroud and mast. It has survived 80 mph winds because all attachment lines are stainless steel wire.

[SVAuspicious]

Read: The Complete Rigger's Apprentice: Tools and Techniques for Modern and Traditional Rigging

[Omatako]

Originally Posted by SoulVoyage

When I bought my boat, it had some small standard 2-horn cleats on the shrouds that were always snagging sails. Those clam cleats would snag less.

I've had a small horn cleat on my starboard shroud for the courtesy flags since I bought my boat and nothing has ever snagged on it, especially not sails.

It is mounted inboard of the shroud and in this position I struggle to see any way that a sail could snag on it. On my boat the sails are outboard of the shrouds at all times.

YMMV

IMHO this is real Heath Robinson and will fail no matter how much tape goes on it.



Sorry just my personal view, no offence intended.

[Outrageous]

No offense taken. I knew it was bad, which I why I asked. The book is on order. Learn something every day:

"A 'Heath Robinson' device is excessively ingenious but impracticable"

In the meantime, I liked the turnbuckle idea - maybe I can combine the cleat with the turnbuckle and see about the tape after I read the book.

FYI, the line is some kind of super strong grey stuff; I'm sure it will fray eventually, but it should last a while, and I don't want the radar detector up while I'm racing. On a long cruise, I like the 'mount above spreader' idea.

[knothead]

Easy, clean and doesn't hurt your shroud.