I have found the fitted mooring cleats at the bows of my 26M inadequate. Ideally a s/s bollard fitted centrally and s/s fairleads fitted either side of the bows would be the complete solution. The problem is that there appears to be no access to the underneath of the deck in order to a] remove the existing cleats, b] to reinforce the proposed fixing points of a bollard and fairleads. My main question is has anyone else found this a problem, and have they found a suitable means to overcome this? Whilst I'm on the subject, in my opinion a couple of mooring cleats in the vicinity of the chainplates would be welcome as well.
—
Navigation is a series of plots. In fog the plot thickens...
A man after my own heart.
Mandy despised our original cleats with a passion.
Sorting it out is a bit of a pain, but worth it. We were going to put 8" cleats on untill I came across some even larger ones ;)
You'll need to consider exactly where you are going to put these. The 8" were 4bolt types, and in the end the foot was too wide to fit! We have the same for the mid cleat. This is even harder to site as you'll end up scarring your interior trim. I have yet to resolve this one.
Anyway, Cyan actually has a Samson post like the one you mention. You could have a word with him. As for access and support, at least on the X there is a panel in the vee berth that you can remove, then spend some quality fun time removing the flotation blocks. With suitable squirming it is all possible. Try to make friends with a gangly person or a midget, perhaps a contortionist.
Here are a load of photos to confuse! (bottom of page) http://www.ironengineer.com/mac/
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is.