To allow one winch to be used for both the mainsail halyard and reefing lines, Issuma has several rope clutches. Because the pilothouse top is wavy, instead of flat, there was a base of scrap (all that was available at the time) plywood with a lot of sealant underneath, on which the clutches are mounted, and thru-bolted (thru the plywood base and the steel pilothouse). This is shown in the picture above.

This worked well enough for several years, but the plywood was rotting, and the bolt holes (two for each clutch) in the pilothouse were a potential source of leaks.

I removed the old base:


A welding shop on the waterfront in Castro made me up a 2mm steel base, with angle welded on the sides. At anchor, I ground the sides to varying heights to compensate for the wavy pilothouse, and to cut spaces to allow hands and wrenches in to tighten the nuts on the rope clutch mounting bolts.


I welded up the old boltholes and welded the base to the pilothouse top using my onboard welding rig (three 12 volt batteries connected in series to a stinger and a ground clamp). Then painted, marked and drilled mounting holes in the base, after which Carolina (pictured) and I bolted the rope clutches and cleats on.

The cleats are to hold the reefing lines in below-freezing conditions, when the ropes swell and no longer fit thru the clutches.