Rigging stay attachment: to bolt or not to bolt

[JamesToBoot]

Another thought, and possibly more relevant.... I may just really suck at putting on ring-dings.

50% of the time, I'm using needle nose pliers.
Ive used the ring-dings for 3/16th-inch and 1/4th-inch clevis pins. Ring-dings for larger clevis pins (sized) are much easier to hold and the end curled into the middle (which makes them different from the normal circle pins) lines up better with the clevis pin hole.

Here are the ring-dings Im using... any issues with them???
Seachoice Stainless Steel Cotter Ring Kit, 66 Piece, All Popular Sizes:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KN69KVF

[tuxonpup]

I was just on BWyachts store last night to order a new quick pin for the tack of our new main sail. I have one for our mast base and one for our boom, but installing the new main required me to dig out the original nut & bolt, take a crescent and pair of channel locks up to the mast while out on the water. Ick.
Ring dings are no party compared to a quick pin, but I wouldn't want a nut & bolt instead in the close quarters the stays are attached on our 26X. Looking for that photo earlier I found a 1 minute video of the first time I installed ring dings on our stays:

[OverEasy]

Hi JamesToBoot!

The person who actually thinks they know it all is only fooling themselves… there’s always something to learn.
(Right now I could use some expert knowledge on installation of vinyl plank flooring over a large floor area with a long hallway about halfway across… Do I try and line up with the hallway first and work out to either side? Line up with one side of the room and work across hoping for the best when getting to the hallway? Which room wall to start with … the shorter one or the longer one? What about where the fireplace hearth tile inserts itself into the room… should I center up on that and work out to either side as this is a focal point of the everyday use of the room? (I’m hopefully gonna live with this choice for a very long time so I better like what I choose!)

Standard trade practice is to generally place the insertion pin head toward the side of an assembly that will have the highest passing traffic to provide as clean and snag free passage for personnel moving past. This is generally the case.

Now if the connection is such that doing so would entail the ‘ringding’ or other spring pin is space limited like say up close to a wall of some sort and as such then one has to make a choice as to where the access of installation out weighs the snag factor. Generally the ease of assembly wins out as one could always tape over the ‘ringding’ or other spring pin to mitigate the snag potentials.

There is yet another case where the retention of the pin by ready visual verification that the ‘ringding’ or other spring pin is actually still inserted and secure into the pin end. These are where whatever is being secured is of a critical system nature.

Finally there is an aesthetic aspect…Does one want to see the flat face of the pin head or does one want to see the ringding or other spring pins at first glance…..

So there’s always gonna be choices that an individual will be needing to evaluate. No pat answers… sorry….

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[JamesToBoot]

I was just on BWyachts store last night to order a new quick pin for the tack of our new main sail. I have one for our mast base and one for our boom, but installing the new main required me to dig out the original nut & bolt, take a crescent and pair of channel locks up to the mast while out on the water. Ick.
Ring dings are no party compared to a quick pin, but I wouldn't want a nut & bolt instead in the close quarters the stays are attached on our 26X. Looking for that photo earlier I found a 1 minute video of the first time I installed ring dings on our stays:

Look at that handsome guy. I'd be too embarased to show my face on youtube. Great vid sir. Subscribed!

Thanks for posting this. So it looks like it is possible to get these on with poor visiablity. Good to know.

[JamesToBoot]

To Bolt!

I replaced every pin I could find with a bolt, and every rusted bolt (idk if those were even ss...?)

2 on each of the side stay adjusters (8 total)
1 on the headstay
2 on the backstay adjuster

Here's what I took off (mind you some of these are new that were used to replace rusted cotter pins last month)



C1 and C2 are new (they sucked getting them on and they sucked getting them off)

C3 wasn't any better and it looks like it wouldn't take much to tear it out

C4 was the easiest to take on and off.

C5 is more of a tradition ring-ding. It seemed the most secure, was easy to take off, but was pretty difficult to get back on.

P1 (1/4" x 13/16" Clevis Pins) were going to be a replacement for B1 and B2 that were used on half the stays. 1/4 x 1/2 clevis pins were too short.

I feel more secure knowing that these are gone.

[JamesToBoot]

Got a couple more clevis pins replaced w bolts.

1 on the forestay attaching the adjuster to the stay (already replaced the other)
4 on the lifelines / adjusters
2 spares put on each lifeline hand tight (to see how well hand tight works)

I hate ring-dings. All of them were aweful getting off.

Used clear first aid tape as rigging tape to secure the ring-dings that could not be replaced:
2 on lifelines that are a different size than everything else
2 on the backstay adjuster
1 on the anchor chain lock (used to secure the anchor)



I like the idea of clear. Allows you to see the condition of the ring-dings. This way I won't be tempted to take off the take to see if they're bent or wont be lazy & skip them.

[JamesToBoot]

Just finshed watching all your vids. Great work! Picturesque locations that look like they could be from an epic sci-fi movie.

[tuxonpup]

Just finshed watching all your vids. Great work! Picturesque locations that look like they could be from an epic sci-fi movie.

Thanks! We're coming up on our one year Macgregor-versary later this month, it's nice having the videos to reflect back on what we've done so far. I was fabricating an attachment plate for the chartplotter to mount on the steering pedestal last night and I can always find a shot of the part of the boat I'm working on, as visiting it while it's stowed in a National Park 400 miles away isn't happening.
As a matter of fact, we decided to avoid the National Park for the upcoming week we have off and instead booked an RV to camp on Silver Strand State Beach on Coronado Island in San Diego all next week. We'll be sailing our dingyak on the bay while camping at the shore, which is what lead us to buying our Macgregor a year ago so, full circle!