[Rhodes22-list] backstay tension/traveler bar

Bill Effros bill at effros.com
Wed Jun 29 11:04:28 EDT 2005


Phyllis,

Ditto.

I set my shroud tension by ear and eye using the strum method.  If I 
subsequently don't like the look or sound of it, I change the 
turnbuckles until I like it.  I don't think there should be so much 
tension on the system that you are in danger of yanking things out of 
the boat--the pitch should not be too high.  Nor should it be so loose 
that you can't get any sound out of the "strings".  Anything in between 
is a matter of personal preference.  The very high pitched systems make 
me nervous no matter whose boat they are on.

I have 1 hole in my traveler bar, also.  You may have a single hole 
also, if you look.  It does not go all the way through, and a simple pin 
holds it in place because of all the tension on the shrouds.

Bill Effros

Rik Sandberg wrote:

> Phyllis
>
> My traveller bar had a small hole in the top of each end for a pin to 
> go through the traveller bar and the sockets it fit into on the aft 
> stays. I never had a problem with these coming out, although if you 
> have no pins, I would see where you might. I would drill the traveller 
> bar and it's sockets so you can put a retaining pin in there.
>
> I never used a loos gauge to set my rigging. I just set it tight 
> enough so it would just start to make a low tone when I strummed it. 
> This gave me just a little slack in the lee shrouds when going to 
> weather. This probably wasn't the "proper" way to do this, but it 
> worked just fine for me.
>
> Your wire is 1/8 inch. The right loos guage would be the 3/32nds to 
> 5/32nds version.
>
> Rik
>
> P&M Beals wrote:
>
>> Looking  back at the Rhodes 22 instruction booklet, the FAQ on the 
>> Rhodes 22
>> site, I read that the backstay tension is the  thing that keeps the 
>> traveler
>> bar in place, is that correct?   On our boat it seems to be the case 
>> even
>> though the traveler bar has a small hole at each end, and one would 
>> think
>> the piece on the backstay into which the bar fits might have a hole 
>> as well,
>> so you could insert a clevis pin?? but clearly there isn't any such 
>> hole to
>> receive a clevis pin...
>>
>> so it comes down to the backstay tension being tight enough to keep that
>> traveler bar securely in place....
>>
>> Please advise me if this is correct.
>>
>> Last evening with 12-15 mph winds we jibed, the boom swung over hard 
>> and the
>> traveler bar came loose, knocking my husband across the head...while 
>> he did
>> not feel OK as we were feebly asking "Are you OK?" he has recovered fine
>> with one Advil...
>>
>> This brings me to my second question regarding Loos tension gauges...
>> I read a piece in the FAQ on those by Roger...do most of you check the
>> tension of your stays at the beginning of the season?
>>
>> How do I know which Loos guage to get? Is the size of the stay wire the
>> measurement that I find in the West Marine catalog?
>> 3/32"- 5/32"
>>
>> 3/16"-9/32"
>>
>> 1/4"-3/8"
>>
>> these are some of the choices, also regular vs. pro.
>>
>> Thanks for any help...while Mike has recovered fine from the blow, I 
>> don't
>> want to sail with any guests on board until I get this figured 
>> out...nor to
>> sail in any but the lightest winds.  For beginners I guess we have to 
>> just
>> tighten up the backstay as much as possible?  We thought we had it 
>> pretty
>> snug a month ago.
>>
>> Phyllis
>> Whisper 
>>
>> __________________________________________________
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>>
>>  
>>
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>


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