The Plastic Classic Forum

I have gone through the boxes that came with the Triton and found some parts that I cannot identify. Mostly because I do not know much about larger sailboats:). of the two wire baskets one has a hinged middle piece. The black shaft has five holes in it on the side away from the leading edge. The two lever looking things say Perko on them. Is the bulkhead fitting one I should use on an ocean boat?

Dan

The top one looks like a garboard drain and the bottom picture is of 2 spanner wrenches for deck fitting caps. #2 and #4 look like guards for something that is either fragile of would foul a line. #3 looks like a through hull fitting. #5 is too dark for me to make out.

In order:

1) Garboard plug - used to put a stopper in a hole in the hull at the deepest point. You take it out in the winter so that the boat can't fill with water, and put it back in before launch so that the boat can't, um, fill with water.

2) Probably one end of a spinnaker or whisker pole holding system. Would go on deck and one end of the pole would clip to it.

3) Through hull - goes in a hole in the hull and has a seacock attached to the threaded end (for opening and closing) and a hose after that. Used for drains and intakes of water.

4) Probably the other end of a spinnaker or whisker pole holding system.

5) Can't tell

6) Not 100% sure - could be to hook a ladder into (put them in line with one another on the gunwale or just below; could be to go in front of a shelf and hold a batten to keep books in; could be for a lot of different things that you would want to hold in place some of the time.

7) Used for opening deck plates. The pins on the end of the arms go in the holes in the deck plates. They hinge so that deck plates with differently spaced holes can be operated with one tool.

At least that's what they look like to me...

Thanks it all makes sense I have a whisker pole and a spinnaker pole. I see the wrenches now. I thought it may be a Garboard plug but I can not see that plug attached to the outside of the boat. Attaching it to the inside would work I suppose but then it looks unsafe that way. I will have to keep working on that black shaft with the five holes in it.

Dan

#5 is the extension rod for an autotiller. I have one exactly the same for my Simrad T30 autotiller. I think you can also use that for other models, like Raymarine.

Thanks Ray, I have a TP300C I must have to look around for the other parts. I thought it may go to the auto pilot but I see no way for it to hook to it. OK I found the pin tucked away on the Navico unit. Now I am looking for the part that the other end screws into (The base) a picture would help.

Dan

Well, it does go on the outside. The only time you remove the plug is when you haul your boat. This allows you to drain the bilge dry, and rinse it out as well.

[/quote]
Well, it does go on the outside. The only time you remove the plug is when you haul your boat. This allows you to drain the bilge dry, and rinse it out as well.[/quote]

OK, Just seems like a fail point not to mention extra drag. It sticks out about an inch. Maybe if I fared it in some and shortened up the plug I could get it down to 1/2" or less. Be my luck I would just miss the reef and it would hit the plug and rip a big hole in the side.

Dan

Quite a majority of the sages on this forum will recommend bilge drains. As for your fretting about drag, most of these things are sold with flush plugs that have a 1/2" or so square recess instead of an ordinary plumbing-type plug.

Pay attention to the alloys as best you can: bronze and bronze, not bronze and brass, not mystery alloys. Rachel will chime in with her research.

As for scraping one off on a reef, best to stay away from reefs. The drain goes on the side of the deep bilge, not on the bottom of the keel. All but an inch or so of water will drain out.

I'm not yet convinced enough of the value of these things to drill a hole in the side of my deep keel's bilge, down where I cannot see it or drive a plug into it. On the other hand, unlike throughhulls and seacocks, you operate on the plug twice a year with a great long wrench thus giving the think every chance to fail or at least be inspected (unlike the throughhullls or seacocks which can be inspected and operated without apparent fault and still be corroded enough to fail).

I decided not to install it. I do not plan on having the boat out of the water for storage. Being this is the reason for it I do not need it. I see that I could get a different plug for it, but I guess to me it is not needed in my case. Out of the water it sits in a hanger under cover.

Dan

This is a turnbuckle I think from the backstay. What is the lever for? It looks to me to serve no purpose. Is this the backstay?

Dan,

That is most likely the back stay turnbuckle and the lever allows you to adjust back stay tension to introduce mast bend to flatten the mainsail when the wind builds. Serves the same purpose as the hydraulic back stay adjusters seen on boats from the 70's and later.

I have a similar backstay adjuster only it has two levers. One attached as it is on yours and the attached to the upper threaded piece. It allows you to hold the upper piece in one position while using the lever to turn the body (rather than using a screw driver). It works like a champ - unless you are racing.

Well that makes sense. Thanks. I guess I will look through some of the spare parts for something that looks like it could go with the upper eye bolt.

Dan