Hey everyone,
The original owner of my boat did some nice touches to add a bit of tug/maritime/old school feel. One such item was using bronze cleats for the sides and rear, and he made a t-bollard for the bow. Through my neglect, the bollard has delaminated, and I always had a hard time using it when on the Columbia, where speed can be essential, and the sizing was a bit on the small side for the anchoring system and lines I use on the river. He had also purchased the bronze portlights from New Found Metals in PT, so I thought I'd call them and see about matching a bronze cleat for the bow, in keeping with the rest of the boat--sort of old-school and local and hand-crafted, if that makes sense.
New Found let me know that they don't deal in the bronze ones anymore, and suggested I call Port Townsend Foundry, which is owned and run by Pete and Cathy. Cathy and I exchanged emails and pictures, and she suggested a 9" or 10" might be just the ticket. Since I am fortunate enough to live close by, I took a drive up that way and paid them a visit. Cathy was kind enough to give me the full tour of the foundry, and what a setup! It was worth the drive just to see how it is all produced and finished.
I ultimately decided on a 9" Herschoff cleat, which matches the style of the others, but is substantially heavier. A cool side note--Cathy showed me the pattern library, including the patterns for the Herschoff cleats--and let me know that the pattern used for my cleat was 60-80 years old, and came from the Wilmington Boat Works in California. In other words, that very pattern has probably made thousands of cleats over the years. Many of the patterns they have in the library have been modified, added to, etc. many times over the years--truly works-in-progress.
Pete gave me a number of installation tips, and I stopped at Admiral in the shipyard to get supplies (and happened to be in the middle of a hazmat spill at the same time--ammonia so strong you could hardly breathe, and that was OUTside!). When I removed the old bollard, I discovered that I would need to hide some gelcoat damage that was previously obscured by a small baseplate on the bollard, and of course now needed a new, bigger baseplate. Pete had some 1/4" bronze plate, so he cut me a piece and a friend who was coming my way made the delivery for me. Perfect.
I routed a 1/4" radius on the top edge, and then sanded the whole thing down to 220 grit. I liked the patina this left, so I didn't take it any further; it's a nice matte look, and should green up nicely. Below decks, I used another piece of 1/8" plate to form a giant washer. I thought I'd need to bed this plate in some thickened epoxy, but the gelcoat there was reasonably flat and so I just epoxied in the old holes and did the installation. I did use 5200 sealant under the plate on the deck (I know, I know, I'm going to burn in hell for this), but I do hope that this part will never be removed again. When you see it, you'll have to agree that if this cleat is off the boat, I probably have bigger problems--i.e. a gaping hole in my deck. In the pictures below, I have not yet trimmed the bronze screws below decks, but that will happen soon.
Following a previous suggestion from another c-brat, I taped a bag under the deck before drilling holes, in order to keep my v-berth glass-and-itch-free.
Happy spring to all, see you on the water soon!
Ben
Below decks, 1/8" silicon bronze plate and screws:
Above decks, just forward of jam cleat for river anchoring. Wish there were a nicer/non-plastic version of the jam cleat.
Top view:
The original owner of my boat did some nice touches to add a bit of tug/maritime/old school feel. One such item was using bronze cleats for the sides and rear, and he made a t-bollard for the bow. Through my neglect, the bollard has delaminated, and I always had a hard time using it when on the Columbia, where speed can be essential, and the sizing was a bit on the small side for the anchoring system and lines I use on the river. He had also purchased the bronze portlights from New Found Metals in PT, so I thought I'd call them and see about matching a bronze cleat for the bow, in keeping with the rest of the boat--sort of old-school and local and hand-crafted, if that makes sense.
New Found let me know that they don't deal in the bronze ones anymore, and suggested I call Port Townsend Foundry, which is owned and run by Pete and Cathy. Cathy and I exchanged emails and pictures, and she suggested a 9" or 10" might be just the ticket. Since I am fortunate enough to live close by, I took a drive up that way and paid them a visit. Cathy was kind enough to give me the full tour of the foundry, and what a setup! It was worth the drive just to see how it is all produced and finished.
I ultimately decided on a 9" Herschoff cleat, which matches the style of the others, but is substantially heavier. A cool side note--Cathy showed me the pattern library, including the patterns for the Herschoff cleats--and let me know that the pattern used for my cleat was 60-80 years old, and came from the Wilmington Boat Works in California. In other words, that very pattern has probably made thousands of cleats over the years. Many of the patterns they have in the library have been modified, added to, etc. many times over the years--truly works-in-progress.
Pete gave me a number of installation tips, and I stopped at Admiral in the shipyard to get supplies (and happened to be in the middle of a hazmat spill at the same time--ammonia so strong you could hardly breathe, and that was OUTside!). When I removed the old bollard, I discovered that I would need to hide some gelcoat damage that was previously obscured by a small baseplate on the bollard, and of course now needed a new, bigger baseplate. Pete had some 1/4" bronze plate, so he cut me a piece and a friend who was coming my way made the delivery for me. Perfect.
I routed a 1/4" radius on the top edge, and then sanded the whole thing down to 220 grit. I liked the patina this left, so I didn't take it any further; it's a nice matte look, and should green up nicely. Below decks, I used another piece of 1/8" plate to form a giant washer. I thought I'd need to bed this plate in some thickened epoxy, but the gelcoat there was reasonably flat and so I just epoxied in the old holes and did the installation. I did use 5200 sealant under the plate on the deck (I know, I know, I'm going to burn in hell for this), but I do hope that this part will never be removed again. When you see it, you'll have to agree that if this cleat is off the boat, I probably have bigger problems--i.e. a gaping hole in my deck. In the pictures below, I have not yet trimmed the bronze screws below decks, but that will happen soon.
Following a previous suggestion from another c-brat, I taped a bag under the deck before drilling holes, in order to keep my v-berth glass-and-itch-free.
Happy spring to all, see you on the water soon!
Ben
Below decks, 1/8" silicon bronze plate and screws:
Above decks, just forward of jam cleat for river anchoring. Wish there were a nicer/non-plastic version of the jam cleat.
Top view:
