Deck Organizer

[Vic & Judy Suben]

vsuben@optonline.net

We are new owners of a Catalina 34 (having recently sold our Catalina 30.  Our new boat is named Surprise.  My question is this:

As I started to go up the mast in a boatswains chair, the halyard sheave in the deck organizer broke.  When I tried the loosen the bolt that holds the bushing & the sheave in place, it did not turn.  WD40 did not help either.

Has anyone had experience replacing a sheave in the deck organizer?  If so, what technique was used?  Is the nut fiberglass in place?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Vic & Judy Suben
Surprise
Hull No. 453
Port Jefferson, NY

[cajenson]

Replaced mine this year. Garhauer makes a ballbearing sheave that will fit, just remove the screw replace sheave and replace the screw, very simple.Good luck.

[Ed Shankle]

I've replaced them, but didn't have too much of a problem unscrewing them. I assumed there is a nut glassed in place in the coach roof; if so, that could be a concern if you really have to torque the screw in an attempt to get it out.
As far as replacements go, I and probably everyone else in the association, recommend Garhauer ball bearing organizers. they are reasonably priced and a significant improvement.
Good luck
Ed

[dave davis]

The deck organizers are in the worst possible position. The factory put them at a 90 degee turn. That causes very high loads and even with the backing plate, the 1/4 by 20 bolts or screws are over stessed. This is true on the old Mod 1. The Mod 2 does not have this design. You might think about bringing the three halyards on the port side back through the deck orgaizer only after you move the organizer back at a much shallower angle. Since I was not using the factory backing plate, I through bolted the organizer. They will all work better and require less effort to operate.On the starboard side I went direct with the main sheet and main halyard. I only use the starboard organizer for low load things like the topping lift and the forguy. Hope this helps...Dave :)

[Stu Jackson]

Deck Organizers

We changed the sheaves on our organizers earlier this year.  What a great deal (see below) from Garhauer.  I wouldn't use anything else.

It was not difficult to remove the bolts, because we have bolts with heads on them, while I have seen some Garhauer organizers on other C34s with "screw heads" on the bolts which would make it harder to get off if they were stuck.

We have a total of ten blocks, each side has three lowers and two uppers.  Nine of the ten are filled:  cunningham, vang, two clew reefing lines, two tack reefing lines, main halyard, and something else (I forget).

I didn't need to use liquid wrench to get the bolts off since the bolt heads were easily accessible and workable with a ratchet socket set.

I did have some difficulty getting the old sheaves out, but just used a screwdriver to hold the flanges of the organizers apart.

I lanacoted the bolts when I replaced them.

The new blocks are great:  eck Organizers: blocks 4/25/03   Garhauer       $51.25  for 10 captive blocks.

If you do this, and you have the old screw heads, I suggest you ask Garhauer for the bolt headed ones.

Stu

[Vic & Judy Suben]

My deck organizer has bolts with philips heads.  Also, from what I see in the responses, I've got the problem of stainless steel bolts in aluminum backing plates.  Hence the difficulty in removing the bolts.  I have been using an impact tool, but it is very slow going.  I am open to other suggestions.

Vic

[dave davis]

Ron's suggestion of filing two flats on the head and than using a vice grip really works well. There are several molded in backing plates on my boat such as on the deck top outboard of the traveler, at the pushpit supports, and at the organizers. My plates are some type of brass or bronze. Good Luck...Dave