tophatyachts.com

Evening All,

When out sailing last week it was a bit bouncy and I had trouble hanging on while making a cup of tea.

Who has a safety belt set up at their galley (I know Jamie in POSSIBILITIES has one), how and where is it fixed,
i.e. what U bolts etc are you using, belt configuration, clips etc?

I really need to fix this problem as I sail in the open ocean, not inside a harbour and once outside
there is no place to hole up for lunch!

Phillip
SEAKA

Hi there Phillip,

I haven't got a safety belt set-up in Sintra II at the moment but I did notice Jamie's belt in his galley. It is a webbing army belt, the old kind with brass keepers and a simple hook and hasp buckle.
The belt is simply bolted through the timber on the left hand side of the galley sink and the other end similarly bolted through the ply of the main bulkhead.
He has the buckle close to the left hand end of the belt. He also showed me how simple to hook and unhook and how effective it was.
I was lucky enough to catch up with him on "Possibilities" for a short while on saturday and would love to have asked him loads of questions about the set-up of his boat, however, he had other visitors there as well and was due to head off back towards Sydney that night.
He had just spent a week or so "down around the corner" in Port Davey and at Maatsuyker Island and was heading north to get a bit of warmer weather over the winter months before possibly? returning some time later in the year.
If you get the chance to catch up with him, I am sure he would love to share a cup of tea and a chat.

Cheers
Austin
Sintra II

Thanks Austin,

Thats the info I was looking for.

Did you by chance notice exactly what the size of the fixings were thro' the bulkheads, 1 or 2 bolts at each end?
Do you think an eye bolt 34850-+ ?? as on page 113 of whitworths cat would be OK?
From what I understand one end was fixed?

I realize I'm being picky, but only want to drill the necessary holes and not have to come back and redo it.
When the belt was hooked did you notice up how much room was there between the belt and the sink?

I'm at Laurieton, about 4 days sailing north of Sydney, but would also like to catch up with Jamie some day.

Phillip
SEAKA

Hi again Phillip

Sorry if my earlier post lacked a bit of detail on the belt.
From what I could see, it was fairly simply bolted straight through the timber with only one bolt at each end.
The belt probably had originally had a hole either punched through it or awled through and the bolts looked like about a 3/8 inch bolt. The belt was held onto the bolts with large flat washers, I used to know them as penny washers.
Anyway, the bolts weren't holding the belt against the timber too firmly because it (the belt) was able to swing or swivel around the bolts somewhat to allow some up and down movement by the person standing at the galley.
I sadly dont have a Whitworth's catalogue to see what the eye bolt is that you mention but from my reckoning, an eye bolt would do the trick nicely from either end. A simple snap hook on the belt would be all that would be required to fasten up.
The amount of slack in the belt is hard for me determine from memory but there was some. I guess if you make it adjustable for length, then allowance can be made depending on which tack you are on. Perhaps more loose on a starboard tack and tighter on port, but then again, I am guessing here. An idea may be to have a couple of snap hooks on the belt, one on the end for maximum length and another a little way along the belt for shortening... just an idea.
So, recapping, your idea of eye bolts sounds good to me. How you adjust the length (if required at all) is open to imagination.

Cheerio for now
Austin
Sintra II

Morning Austin,

I will have a look at that today, many thanks for the info.

Good to see we have a Top Hat in Tasmainia and with a launch date!

Phillip
SEAKA mk1