My Reef lines seem to be tortured when coming off the cheek block to pass through the sail. I’m wondering if anyone has replaced the cheek blocks with low friction rings connected to the boom as opposed to using a cheek block. If so, how did you attach the ring to the boom?
Randy Gadikian
Phoenix Rising
NS26c #37
Buffalo, NY
Randy,
Just to clarify what I think you mean by the reef lines being tortured, I’m guessing you mean that they’re chafing because the lead off those blocks is fairly vertical rather than matching the angle that the line makes to the reefing clew with the sail up. I don’t know whether you slacken the reefing lines when the sail’s up, and also whether you’re in the habit of tightening the topping lift adjustment to lift the boom as high as possible before reefing. If you’re not already doing those things, both of those might reduce the chafing a bit.
I haven’t tried lashing a low friction ring to replace the reefing cheek block, but I have lashed on some low friction rings to serve as fairleads for my adjustable topping lift line, as shown in this picture.
I did the lashings following some instructions I found on-line, but I now can’t reconstruct exactly where to give you the pointer to it. So, a couple of disclaimers on the description I’m about to give:
With that in mind, here’s how I recall doing it.
First of all, note that it takes a surprising length of line. There’s a recent thread about the boom diameters for different size boats. I think ours is about 3.5" or so. That would mean each wrap around the boom would require about one foot of line. But you’ll be wrapping the line around the ring and the boom together, not just the boom by itself, so that adds even more. And, you’ll be lashing around the lashing, so add another foot or so for that. I didn’t measure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up using 12-15 ft. of line for each lashing.
With THAT in mind, lashing was pretty simple. I tied a clove hitch around the boom with the line, leaving approximately equal lengths on each end. I then alternated wrapping the two line-ends around the boom and block in opposite directions multiple times, making an effort to pull each wrap fairly tight, until I had a 8-12 inches left on each end. (After the first wrap or two, the block pretty much stayed in place and I could concentrate on just doing the wrapping.)
At this point, the lashing’s gone around the boom and ring. With the remaining lengths, I then wrapped the ends in opposite directions around this lashing between the ring and the boom, again several times and again making an effort to pull each wrap as tight as I could as I went. This pulled the lashing tighter around the boom, and more fully and tighter around the ring. When this was done, I tied the ends together with a reef knot, and put some liquid rubber electrical tape on that knot to keep it secure. (Any UV-resistant glue would do.)
As far as I can tell, this lashing is secure, keeps the rings from rotating, and doesn’t let the rings and boom chafe each other because the final step keeps the ring from being in contact with anything but the lashing.
Let me repeat that I’m describing what I did, not giving an expert recommendation. This post describes how I applied my best understanding of my book learning, not the result of supervised training or experience.
I would LOVE it if someone with such experience would post on the discussion board to provide better guidance. But I’ve posted about topics like this several times without anyone else chipping in. So, in the land of the blind, I may be the one-eyed guy who’s king – even if that eye requires a monocle.
Good luck, and please post on how whatever you do works out.
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
