On my C36 MkI (1988) there are two "towers" placed right behind the fresh air intake funnels onto the top of which the traveller-end brackets are mounted. On my boat, the traveller has been upgraded, but I assume the old one was mounted there as standard before the upgrade. In between these two towers is the cover for the sliding main companionway hatch. I am trying to use this open space on top of the cover in front of my dodger to store my inflatable Achilles dinghy, deflated and stored in a Sunbrella canvas bag. In order to prevent the bagged dinghy from sliding around, I am adding straps to the bag that will be clipped to the two mainsheet end and turning block anchor rings in the front, port and strbd, and to two anchor points back, port and strbd. Since one cannot screw into the sliding hatch cover, I want to put a couple of mounting rings behind the bag's port and strbd corners, and the traveller posts would be ideal sites for these rings. However, I don't know what is inside those fiberglass towers. The traveller appears to be screwed down to their tops, not through-bolted (no bolts and nuts match up inside on the cabin-top), so I am guessing the towers are filled with wood or something else one can screw into. The rings do not need to be very strong because these anchors aren't holding the weight of the dinghy, but only keeping it from sliding around on its seat on top of the sliding hatch cover.
So my question is, does anyone know what fills those towers? Can one mount anchor points by drilling and screwing into these (with proper caulking, of course.) I would prefer to do that rather than having to drill all the way through the cabin top to mount tie-down rings.
Papa
PapaTheSailorMan
FWIW, on our '85 Mk I, the traveler IS through bolted. We replaced the original, which was also through bolted. Maybe one way to guess it out is to withdraw one of the mounting screws/bolts for your traveler and see how its threaded -- i.e., is it a bolt vs a wood screw? (Obviously, if its a bolt we will still not know the answer, since there could be embedded metal plates AND wood).
If it were me and the puzzle was unsolveable, I'd go with through-bolting. From an aesthetic point of view, we already have so many through bolts in the cabin celing that a few more would not make a difference. And dingies are not cheap....
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
Having chosen to switch the deck-mounted 'deck organizers' on the deck on either sides of the mast, I learned that they were screwed into brass plates glassed into the deck. I would think that this was the same case with the tops of those traveller mounting 'towers'. The old bolts should inform you if they're still there. I'd reuse them, or get matching shorter SS bolts for the new D rings or whatever you will use. K.
Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada