Wooden cleats

Amongst the things left to do on the Catboat are finding and installing cleats for the rigging and mooring. While we could just purchase various cleats for the job, I've always liked wooden ones and they seem like a good solution. We can work on making them during the winter months while we're waiting for our lumber to arrive for the mast.

Based on the boat design, I think we can manage with 6 cleats for various mooring/anchoring points along the port and starboard sides of the boat. Perhaps a cleat near the rudder wheel for the mainsheet. A Fife rail with belaying pins I think would look nice for the Halyards and Topping lift. A few other cleats along the boom will be needed for reefing lines.

For inspiration, we used this site to develop ideas. Then we used this site and this site to help determine the proper dimensions for our cleats.


And voila!...We've started cutting out some cleats of out oak.With a rasp and some sandpaper we should have something smooth in no time.