Traveler redesign

A more technical post in which I describe the problems with the original traveler and how I improved it.

Some people scoff at the idea that the sail trim afforded by a traveler is significant for a cruising boat. But I simply enjoy being a geek about sail shape.  It is more than the practical consideration of being able to get the sails trimmed just right so that we are able to sail home rather than motor home.  It is more a matter of understanding how the sails work and how to get the most out of them.  And when the boat is going just right you can feel it.  So I was not going to deprive myself of a fundamental tool for achieving sail trim.

Original traveler set-up showing the line coming forward
through a bullet block and then back to cockpit

The original traveler on the Morris Justine was difficult to operate because the line chafed on the block that led it forward and the line did not go smoothly through the bullet block.  I have labeled the first chafe point in the overview picture and show a detail of it below.

Close-up of chafe point

This stacked cheek block would only allow the line to be turned straight forward or in-board but the line is led to a bullet block which is outobard of it and it chafes on the cheek bloc where the curved arrow it.  Then the line does not go smoothly through the bullet block which leads it back to the cockpit.  The system was nearly impossible to move under load and it is not something I would pull with a winch.  So instead  I would go up on deck and pull the traveler line straight forward.  My son would remain in the cockpit and pull the slack through the bullet block.

I also did not want a block in the location of the bullet block because I planned to be up there while we were sailing and I wanted to eliminate tripping hazards.

Redesigned traveller

My redesign uses a cheek block on the traveler support bar to divert the line downward rather than forward.  The key to placement of this block is to put the first hole as far into the corner of the support beam as possible while still leaving enough room to get a nut behind it (I actually had to file down my nut to get it on the bolt). On the deck I used a stand up block (I ended up not using the spring that makes it stand up) to lead the line back to the cockpit.  The key to placement of the pad eye securing the stand-up block is to determine how the block will be angled when the line is under tension.

The deck had wood core in the location where I wanted my new pad eyes.  I over-sized my holes, removed core with a bent nail in a drill, filled these holes with epoxy and then redrilled holes the proper size for my bolts.  The interior cabin picture shows duct tape holding the epoxy in the holes.  I just used washers to back up the pad eyes as there is not much pressure on these blocks.

These headliners may make the boat look pretty, but they make every project more difficult.  Getting them back in is much worse than getting them out.

Unanticipated issue

One flaw in my design is that the line lays on the companionway cover when the traveller car is all the way to one side.  I have thought about putting a piece of teak or SS quarter-round to lift up the line, but so far it is not leaving a mark.

I was in the early stages of this project at the Morris dock in Northeast Harbor, Maine when some older guy walking the dock started to tell me how many oceans he had crossed and that I was wasting my time on a traveler and that I had many other insufficiencies on my boat that I should be worrying about.  I was already having a hard enough day without the right tools on a Sunday and finally told him I needed to make my own mistakes.  I've since been advised to do projects out of public view.