Attaching Cleats to the center board trunk

[mtheut]

It's been less than an month that I have had my "77 DS II. I've been out on Lake Erie 4 times and pleased to say it's been smooth sailing. Thanks to Roger's book, I've upgraded a few things.
1. Placed cheek blocks on the mast for jib and main halyards. These are now run back to cleats on the cabin top.
2. Placed a cheek block on the mast for the cunningham. I've placed a fair lead and cam cleat on the cabin top to allow for easy adjustments.
3. My vang "V" cleat was always slipping. I took off the "v" cleat and ran this forward to a cam cleat as well. Everything is at my finger tips.
4. I added a rudder uphaul line and jam cleat. This is going to be great for clearing weeds etc. Which brings me to my question.

The area of Lake Erie which I like to sail has a fair amount of sea weed floating around. Boats and freighters entering the Detroit River chop it up and it floats to the surface. Certain areas "like heading back to the dock" cause me to clear the rudder and CB quite often. The addition of the rudder uphaul is going to be great. Now I'm looking to create an easier way to raise and lower the CB. It's currently setup with a standard cleat. I'd like to replace with a cam cleat with two cam cleats.
I'm wondering how the existing cleat is fastened and how I would fasten new cam cleats. Are these normally fastened with bolts or screws. If bolts, how can ensure that I don't create an access point for water and don't interfere with the CB.
Any help or advise would be great.

[talbot]

When I've had my DS II hauled and peer up into the CB trunk, I don't see any screws protruding, so I presume the glass must be thick enough to take the screws for the CB uphaul cleat. Suggestion: Remove one of the screws that holds the cleat, and use that as a guide for the length of anything else you attach to the trunk.

A DS II I owned had those little black jam cleats for both uphaul and downhaul, installed by the previous owner. They worked OK, but if I set that up on my current boat, I'll use something like the Harken micro-cams. I know, it's about $25 vs $5, but it is hardware you'll operate every sailing day for years. The problem with the jam cleaats is that, well, they jam. The worst case is when you have the board locked down and realize you are about to run aground. You pop the downhaul so the board can come up, but the line rejams itself as it starts to run out.

[mtheut]

Thanks for the info. I will take your suggestion and back out one of the screws on the original cleat to see what I'm dealing with. I hope it's not a bolt or I'll have to mess with the DB housing. I plan to use cam cleats. I agree, I'm not a big fan of jam cleats.

[Roger]

Also when you insert new ones, slather them in silicone so that water does not ingress into the fiberglass layers. I usually dob a bit along the shaft of the screw, then under the head. This makes a nice worry free seal.

Thanks for the cuddos on the book BTW. Nice to see that people are getting satisfaction from this improvements on their boats.