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I have only just become a proud owner of wayfarer 5560. She had a few small things that needed fixing on her but other than that she is now almost ready to sail , but there is one thing stopping me : the sliding gooseneck i belive that there should be a small wing nut to lock it in place on the mast but unfortunatly this is missing , i do have an idea to try and replace the bolt but this might not work so i was wondering if anybody could help me ovcome this problem ?
This would be a great help Dom
Update: i have just got back from the chandlers and after much diisscusion with the people in there one of the friends of the man behind the till informed me that the hole should actually have a thread in it then a wing bolt should screw in and tighten against the back of the mast , unfortunatly the thread in my goose neck had completly worn out so i bout so slightly larger bolt to try and re tap the hole , uunfortunaly this failed but i managed to get the goose neck out at the opening in the sail track then i could put at bolt through the back and have a wing nut on the front and this now clamps against the mast and works well enough for my purposes , if any one would like a picture of how i did this please reply
Dom
A sliding goose neck shouldn’t have thread at all. The wing bolt goes through it and screws in to a sort of nut that has a shape to fit the inside of the sail groove. When tightened it jams the sides of the sail groove. Because it is shaped to match the groove it holds well because of the large friction area, and it does so without damaging the mast like a straight bolt would do.
If you lost the “nut” you can replace it by some half round brass or stainless steel strip (don’t use aluminium here), similar to the keel strips on your boat. If it is about an inch long and more or less follows the curvature of the inside of the sail groove it is fine. Drill and cut thread in it to match your wing nut. Alternatively you could grind a standard SS-nut to match the inside of the groove (more or less) but that would not have enough surface area to stay in place when loaded by the sail in a fresh breeze. But it is probably good enough to potter about on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
I believe someone mentioned the use of round bar to me once?
Just use what you can find in your pile o’ junk that matches the sail groove, or rather, creates the largest friction area inside the groove.Swiebertje Thanks for your prompt reply i think i understand what you are saying : i am going to try and get a strip of SS and then welt a nut on the back so the wing bolt goes through the hole and then through a hole into the metal but it will tighten on the nut and pull it tight against the groove like a big washer , i may even end up putting abit of rubber innertube on one side of the metal plate thing so that is will not damage the mast and it will then grip better than metal on metal , i shall let you know how i get on and maybee post some pictures so that if any one elce is unfortunate enough to buy a boat with this missing or too loose the bolt then they could maybee make a new one with allot less hastle then i have had ❗
Once again thanks for your prompt reply .Dom
Why not get fixed gooseneck and rivet it on the mast,would be much easier than all this stuff, !!
No doubt i have missed something in the tale that needs a sliding one ?
C P 😕
You have made a very valid point there and im sure it would save me a fair amount of time but its nearly £40 pounds for a new fixed gooseneck and £60 for a sliding one and unfortunatly funds are starting to run low , also am am a big beliver in tryiing to fix things andd not buying them but i and certain that when i get enough money i will purchase a new one . And a sliding gooseneck is instead of a downhaul or cunningham and lets you controll the luff i hope this has filled the gap in your knowledge colin 😀
Dom
@wayfarer5560 wrote:
i am going to try and get a strip of SS and then welt a nut on the back so the wing bolt goes through the hole and then through a hole into the metal but it will tighten on the nut and pull it 😯
Find an inch of round or half round bar that more or less fits the sail groove, drill hole, cut thread, done.
No nut needed, no welding needed.OK that sounds quite a bit simpler , i have mild steel only though this will rust on the water but i could paint it have you got any ideas where i could get some brass or SS ? Thanks allot you have been a great help
Swiebertje is giving you good advice. If you can’t do it yourself take it to a welding/fabrication/metal bashing/engineering/small garage/local factory. Its a dead simple job and they’ll know what to do. Robert
Blu Tack making it is not a problem at all i have a welder and set of teaps etc the problem is trying to get a piece of brass i shall see if the chanlers have a bit of half round keel rubbing strip this afternoon , i shall let you know how i get on.
Just a thought – if you buy a stainless bolt (one that is not threaded to the end) you can cut the head and thread off to give you a short length of bar. You can easily buy bolts in M6, 8, 10, 12, 16 etc. Robert
Thanks robert that is a very good idea , i went round the hardwear stores today and all i could find was quite small diameter 2m aluminium rod , and the even smaller diameter brass rod so that would be a good idea i shall let you know how i get on.
@Colin Parkstone wrote:
Why not get fixed gooseneck and rivet it on the mast,would be much easier than all this stuff, !!
No doubt i have missed something in the tale that needs a sliding one ?
C P 😕
No-one has answered Colin’s question above, so I will.
When cruising I always needed the gooseneck to be in one position and another (higher) for camping. To erect the tent you rest the stern end of the boom in the crutch at the transom then raise the for’ard end of the boom by sliding the gooseneck up the mast groove until the boom is horizontal. This is for what I think (from memory) is called the Mark 3 Wayfarer tent. But it would be the same for any tent that is to give standing room inside!
Warning about sliding goosenecks: They won’t work loose while sailing (as mentioned here) but they WILL while trailing. If the mast is lashed foot to stern then the gooseneck will drop out of the bottom of the groove and quite possibly into the road. This has happened to me and others have told me the same.
Fair winds and tides!
Mike Spathaky W9177
Mike
Im sure that , thats the more thought after reason nowerdays as more boats are rigged with downhauls but i think that it allows you to contoll the leech as well but sliding goosenecks are probably now more widly used for the tent situation.
@wayfarer5560 wrote:
…….as more boats are rigged with downhauls……
What makes you think that? The boom is not, and never was allowed to go below the black band, so you just might as well fix it in position. Some use a Cunningham to put tension on the luff but the usefulness of a Cunningham is still a matter of debate, even in the top of the fleet. Still, a Cunningham does not require a sliding goose neck at all.
By the way, having a high goose neck tent is an option, it is also possible to cut a tent to the standard goose neck height as was done with my tent. Only my feet ever go there when its up anyway. Instead of a sliding goose neck the boom can also be lifted by the main halyard. A bungee loop will keep it close to the mast. An actual goose neck isn’t really needed to hold up the tent. Dick Harington uses a very nice false goose neck next to his fixed goose neck, only to be used to put the tent up. Have a look here: http://www.wayfarer-international.org/WIT/cruise.daysail/boom.tent/DHboom_tent.html (Go to the pictures near the bottom of the page). And there are dozens of other ways to position a boom above a (fixed) goose neck.
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