A handy hybrid of a handhold and hook
Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014
I love tinkering on my 1960 Pearson Triton. The venerable Triton was built from 1959 through 1967 by Pearson in Bristol, Rhode Island, and also under license to Aeromarine Plastics in Sausalito, California. My boat, hull #96, was one of the early Aeromarine boats. It survived being “ridden hard and put away wet” as the one-design class winner through the ’60s and early ’70s. It changed hands through the end of the ’80s.
By the time I found her in 1990, Head over Heels was getting close to the chainsaw. In an ongoing labor of love, her restoration included everything from the deck up and a complete refurbishment of the main cabin. Now, more than two decades later, I’m getting close to turning the corner that differentiates between refitting and maintaining the refit. There’s more maintenance going on now, but I’m still trying to add some of the little bits that make life aboard a touch more pleasant.
I wanted some handholds in the head area and I also wanted to add a couple of hooks for hanging things. On a 28-foot boat there’s not a lot of space, so I made a combination handhold and hook from a leftover teak handrail.
I cut off the end loop a few inches into the next loop, giving me a handhold loop and a prong for the hook. I rounded the end of the hook, sanded it, and finished it with tung oil.
Once I had mounted the first two handhold hooks, Head over Heels seemed a bit more complete and I began contem- plating where else I could add a handhold that doubles as a handy hook.
Rob Squire recently retired after 29 years as an American Airlines pilot to become a full-time boat bum. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay area where he and his wife, Marilyn, still live. He’s been tinkering with his 1960 Pearson Triton, Head over Heels, for more than 20 years and has turned her, in his words, “into a delightful little cruiser.”
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