Your solution sounds intriguing. Let us know if you go down that route (lowering the bar).

Chris Geankoplis
Xenos

On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 6:17 PM Tom Hyatt via Rhodes22-list <
rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:

> A question to the group from a novice Rhodes owner.
>
> I have a 1978 Rhodes that did not come with any sort of traveler or
> mainsheet system. I built my own traveler using guidance from a number of
> smart people on this list. I mounted it on the backstays in the way most
> all Rhodes 22s that I have seen have it mounted - a little above chest
> level in the slot along the stays where there is a second bit of wire rope
> clamped in.  In principle, it all works fine. However, to get to the
> outboard controls is almost impossible. I have added a tiller extension to
> the handle but still, that is awkward. The traveler as it is positioned
> does not allow me to get close to the stern either for starting the motor
> or managing the motor tiller.
>
> Today I toyed with the idea of doing away with the bar traveler altogether
> and installing a short rail along the stern in the way a Catalina 22 is
> configured. That would cut down on the length of the traveler and diminish
> its usefulness but would do away with the awkward bar that keeps me from
> having easy access to the stern and motor controls. Of course, I would lose
> most of the ability to raise the rudder tiller but I think I could live
> with that.
>
> BUT THEN ... I got the idea to just lower the traveler bar to just above
> the stern deck and use stay clamps to hold it in place along the stays. In
> this manner, it is totally out of the way but still would function in the
> way it would if it were higher up. I will need to lengthen my mainsheet but
> that's about the only alteration it seems that I need to make.
>
> I am open to any information, suggestions, experiences, etc that any of you
> can offer. I am about to put my boat in next week and can certainly live
> with the configuration as I have seen it, but would love to improve it so
> that I can more easily get to and control my outboard and make better use
> of what seems like wasted cockpit space.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Tom Hyatt
> S/V Eliza Jane 78
> Baltimore, MD
>
> .
>