Traveler sheaves disintegrating

[soopad00pa]

A couple of quick questions on their replacement -

How are they measured? My calipers say OD of 1.5in and an ID of 1.12-3ish. The local west marine has some that look appropriate, but is there anything specific I should be looking for related to travelers?

There doesn't seem to be a way to remove the car without completely removing the traveler from the deck. Does that grey plastic end cap come off from below? Does the car have screws accessible from below?

I'm probably gonna have to buy a big ass screwdriver just for this one thing. Boats are horrible

Thanks for any insight...

[tkeithlu]

The plastic end comes off, then loosen the car and slide it off the end. Here are some sheaves:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Trav...hrome&ie=UTF-8

But damn! You might as well put good ones on it rather those cheap plastic crumbling ones, so:

https://www.mcmaster.com/pulleys/pul...tal-pulling-6/

Then comes the real problem. Those axles appear to be rivets rather than bolts. Cheaper to manufacture, and a PITA to replace. The good news is you only have to do the one that holds the sheaves, not the one at the top. You may have to grind off the bottom end, drive the rivet out (add pin punches to your tool shopping list), and make a new axle. Something like an 8-32 or 10-32 stainless steel bolt would probably work.

Boat tools. A big screw driver is a bare start. Buy stock in Harbor Freight and DeWalt. Good luck with your project.

[Tetepare]

Remove assembly as instructed

Look on catalinaDirect for drop in replacement.

[Geoff54]

Garhauer Marine supply a lot of Catalina hardware and that looks like an old version of their MT-1 traveller. Although Guido, who was a fountain of knowledge, is no longer with us, it’s still worth contacting them. They are very helpful and supplied replacement sheaves for my genoa cars, even though it was an old design. If those blocks are riveted, they can probably still replace the sheaves or supply direct replacement blocks.

[soopad00pa]

Thanks for the info, everybody.

This brings up another question - now I'm considering getting rid of the traveler and going with a system I've seen in pix and video but never in real life. Basically just go with two sheets, each leading to its own side of the boat and adjust boom with these.

What this called? Any big downsides? I like the idea of simplicity, but if I lose a lot of function, then there's more thinking involved...

[Don C L]

We’ll you don’t lose a lot of function, but if you are racing it might be enough. Adjustment of the shape of the main is a little more limited and your pointing ability will be reduced a bit since it is harder to get the boom centered. My boat is rigged that way, and for the most part she performs fine for what I need. Sometimes when I am heading out, to get out of my harbor, the prevailing wind direction requires me to center the boom to get the drive I need so I will reach up and pull the boom in by hand. That only works on a small boat! If I were you I’d try to work out keeping the traveler if you can.
As far as replacing sheaves, I have a main sheet block with disintegrated sheaves too and it seemed like such a waste, but I ended up buying a new one because replacing the sheaves got to looking impossible. I drilled out the pins to get it apart and still couldn’t find the right sheave match with the chandlery. I am still keeping it for another try someday, but like I say, bought a new one.

[stevead]

The mainsheet system you are referring to is called a German Mainsheet (or more correctly with the main sheets led down both sides of the boat, a Double German Mainsheet).


Re sheaves, many years ago I had replacement sheaves machines by Ed Louchard, his email address was edo at cablespeed.com and his phone number is 360 385-2720. Not sure if he is still around. The dimensions he required were OD of the sheave, rope diameter and ID for the bore. Manufacturers such as Ronstan, Harken etc. also stock a variety of sheaves.

[Don C L]

Check this:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...em-257639.html

[soopad00pa]

Thanks again, all!

I'll do a lil research and see what makes the most sense.

It's a 40yo catalina 30. Won't be racing, just circumnavigation via cape horn. I keed, I keed. Just cruising around the east coast and maybe swing over to the Bahamas for a bit of the damn boat don't sink.