• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

How to bend Travelor track successfully

I was able to swap some pumps that had been sitting in my basement for years for a used Harken Low Beam 1.25” traveler track with a
ball bearing “Big Boat” car and A pair of 4:1 end control blocks. There is about a 2” drop on each end of my existing Ronstan travelor that appears to be original issue on my E32. It is a pain to use.

The attached images show how my existing vise was used to incrementally bend the track to create the requisite bend. It took about 6 trips along the track with the vise to get there. Note that I used some tubing placed over the vise handle to get enough leverage.

Attaching the track over the companionway will be a pain due to the 4” hole spacing and 5/16” bolt holes but the price was right for this rig.
 

Attachments

  • E7080D6D-6584-4A88-996F-154C1A9916F3.jpeg
    E7080D6D-6584-4A88-996F-154C1A9916F3.jpeg
    135.4 KB · Views: 33
  • E8872808-9A98-4CD1-B5AB-D2D0E1934982.jpeg
    E8872808-9A98-4CD1-B5AB-D2D0E1934982.jpeg
    132.7 KB · Views: 33

lrclough

Junior Member
32-200? The head is aft?

The main sail insignia reads "32-2" for whatever that is worth. Hull # 674. Head is forward.

From what I can see without taking the sea hood off, there is the old Ronstan track, then a 0.50" teak strip, then the sea hood fiberglass. The 0.25" diameter machine screws go into the track, teak and cover are 2.25" long, possible connecting to nuts fixed in place but the holes seem to be tapped into the teak and fiberglass. Can't see much underneath the hood.

Looking at some old pictures from this web site of the inside of sea hood on an E38 (one is below) and assuming similar construction techniques for the E32-2, the fiberglass on the sea hood would be relatively thin and does not appear to be cored.

The main sheet load calculator on the Harken web site indicates a main sheet load of about 2,400 lbs in 30 kts of wind for the E32-2.

Hence my guess is that the sea hood would not add a great deal support to the traveler given this load?? The loads would seem to be primarily carried by the risers at each end of the track, which appear to be through bolted to a cored section of the deck.

Also the sea hood appears to only be screwed on.

My used and yet to be installed "big boat" track is the low rise version, and of course has 4" spacing for 5/16" machine screws instead of the 3" spacing for 1/4" screws on the Ronstan track. There are 3 points on the two tracks where the holes coincide (3 x 4" = 4 x 3").

I could beef up the track with some 0.50" aluminum plate in lieu of the teak strip, attached to underside by tapping holes into the track and countersinking short machine screws into the aluminum plate which would be screwed into the new holes.

Any thoughts? I may have gotten more of a project than I anticipated at first blush but that's not unusual for boat projects. :oops:


1594679268416.png
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I believe you have an Ericson 32-3 (superb choice).

The models are confusing. ("The first ERICSON 32 (also known as the SCORPION 32 - 1966) was a completely different boat and was only produced for a short period of time. Thw far more popular version is referred to as ERICSON 32-2. It began production in 1969 and hull numbers 101 through 573 were built by 1978. The Ericson 32-3 didn't begin production until 1985." An aft-head model coexisted about then, with other interior changes to create an owner's cabin (Ericson 32-200). Pacific Seacraft made a few into the '90s after Ericson tanked, with some cosmetic mods, which probably had its own name.

See where your hull number fits in here: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/e-32-hull-wiki.17380/#post-128541

Will the Harken car ride in the Ericson aluminum channel that spans the companionway? Here's a blog about such stuff on the E381, which may partly apply. The new control ends I believe will fit the 32-3 track.

Are you MaineCapeSailor? Please fill out your profile and put boat info in the signature line.

 

lrclough

Junior Member
The traveler track does not rest in an aluminum channel, per the picture below, rather it rests on a 1/2" teak strip which in turn rests on the sea hood, beyond which it is unsupported for about 8" until it reaches the end brackets.

The naming convention on the E32 is confusing since I (and apparently the prior owner) thought that the E32-2 and not the E32-3 had the forward head. The main sail has the 32-2 label on it.

I am the MaineCapeSailor, and purchased this 1986 Ericson 32-2 for use in Casco Bay, Maine waters. I am not fluent with this new web site yet and had participated occasionally in the past. I did make a profile post, but do not see where to fill out a profile.

Previously I was the first owner of a 1987 Ericson 34, Hull #7, purchased new at the 1986 Newport RI boat show where the Sabre 34 fell short in comparison. I then sold the E34 in 2008 after extensively cruising in Maine and Canada for many years since it was not the right boat for offshore trips to the Caribbean.

In my prior life, Bruce King was a client of my office. One interesting nugget is that back in 1987 I discussed with him a problem with the E34 design with him, namely that it did not rest evenly on its lines - Ericson then sent me four 50 lb lead ingots to fiberglass to the hull outboard of the sink under the galley - I did not need all of them to straighten things out.

MaineCapeSailor
E32 Bella Luna Hull #674
 

Attachments

  • Travelor Ericson 32.jpg
    Travelor Ericson 32.jpg
    43.6 KB · Views: 5

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Welcome back. Better use one account so we don't get confused. The forum average age is 106.

The "User Profile" is accessed by clicking on your name at upper right. Then "Account Details." What's important to your fellow members is
boat model (you have an E32-III (or 3), engine, and the boat's location. All topic discussions involve those three aspects and it really helps everyone to know if it's a salt water boat, an optional power plant, or built in 1974 vs. 1990. The models are all different in detail and by year.

Most of us also put that info in the "Signature" line, which is also under "Account Details," so people don't have to look it up every time.

Nobody sent me any lead ingots. You always just gotta know somebody, it turns out.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Interesting trivia! I recall the 70's EY factory brochure that showed a pool where all hulls were said to be floated before shipping out. Evidently they wanted to have them float on their lines.
 

Tin Kicker

Sustaining Member
Moderator
As Christian said, the 32-2 didn't have that sea hood, it was on the 32-3 (aka III) and the 32-200. The 32-3 has the forward head and the -200 has an aft head. It sounds like somebody found a good deal on a sail if it says 32-2.
 

p.gazibara

Member III
If I were you, I would ignore the old bolt holes. Just fill them with thickened resin. Use the new traveler as a template, decore all the new bolt areas, add thickened resin to fill the gaps. Instead of the aluminum backing plates, consider laminating a few layers of cloth over the underside of the load area, or better yet, epoxy up a piece of G10. From there, bolts tapped through the mess with butyl, large SS washers and nuts apparently make a superb watertight, strong connection.

I am beginning to avoid metal where I can. Especially the dissimilar kinda. The track is probably well anodized or painted. Will the backing plate be? I have been learning a lot from these kiwi boatbuilders. Stainless screws in aluminum backing plate? Just don’t let water get in.

My traveler was also bolted through a wood core and now I have a squishy cockpit seat. It has taken 20 years, but I have to replace deck core.

None of this is a problem in the desert though, Cinderella is definitely a SoCal princess. The tropics have done a number.

-P
 
Top