Fitting an anchor cleat
This is one of those jobs that take only a few minutes to complete
but it does need to be done properly your anchor will only be as
good as the cleat and fittings you use I have opted for a standard
cleat there are other options i.e. cam cleat but I decided to go
with the standard .
Tools you will need .a good fine tipped marker this is a lot more
accurate than a standard marker. Philips Screwdriver. Pair of small
pliers. Drill and drill bit of suitable size for the bolts. 2 nuts
and bolTs of correct size 2 washer’s and a bit of silicone
sealant.
First of all with the nuts and bolts in the cleat decide where you
are going to put it and mark the drill
holes.
it is important to spend plenty of time deciding where
to put your cleat pay attention to the fact it needs to be in a
place that the paddle will not catch when paddling and also needs
to be in a place you can reach without stretching all over the
place you may need to realise your anchor quickly .it also needs to
be in a place that will not catch your hands or cause a problem
when being transported on your car no good setting it then finding
out it catches the roof rack and gets snapped off. Tuck it in where
you can reach it but it does not catch anything.
Anyway after you have marked out the position of the bolts.
Check it again once you have drilled the hole theirs no going
back.
Drill the 2 holes and clean out any bits from them.
Then put a liberal amount of silicone on the back of the cleat
specially where the bolts threads are then press the cleat and
bolts in to place from the inside of the kayak fit the washer to
each bolt and then the nuts on .
I like to put a small smear of silicone on the thread inside so that when the nut tightens up it forms a small rubber gasket on both inside and outside. finally tighten the nuts up don’t go mad here just get them nice and tight then finally clean off any excess silicone from the outside of the cleat .