This item was found in a compartment on my mates alloy Cole 42. Nicely made out of a hardwood with the rope well fitted into holes drilled into the sides. Presume it's upside down with rubber bits on the bottom. Seems too tidy for some thing that's normally hidden from view. Thoughts?
A really badly designed rung for a transom ladder?
Or the bottom row of a Space Invaders game?
It just might be a hatchway seat. If I had a sliding hatch I would sit on the entry coaming and keep a lookout while the windvane steers. This item could possibly fit over the coaming to give more surface area and add some comfort for a tired old bum.
it was called many things. The most common name was a "Thingo" Shortened from the formal name of "Thingamebob"
Many sailors found the latter hard to say, hence the shortened name.
I think the cut outs on the inside corners might be a clue, they look to have been cut so as to fit around something, otherwise why are they there?
Two uses
Coil your rope around it to keep it all neat and tidy, when not used for rope it sits on top of a bucket for the number 2 use
think it meant to hold things together (like planks?), the two circular cuts at the end allow the wood pieces to be turned perpendicular and the cuts allow the rope to fall into that area? no?
It's to stand metal objects on so they don't come into contact with the Coles alloy surfaces and cause corrosion.
Are there by any chance two winches that are the same distance apart as the length of the timber ? The cutouts look like they could have been made to fit the base of a winch.
Select to expand quoteRamona said..
It just might be a hatchway seat. If I had a sliding hatch I would sit on the entry coaming and keep a lookout while the windvane steers. This item could possibly fit over the coaming to give more surface area and add some comfort for a tired old bum.
It's rather sad when I answer my own posts! This will surprise some of you but I was right. Mate was surprised I was right also! Fooling around out there today and this is how it looks. The rubber feet hold it out from the alloy. It is quite comfortable but I reckon it needs some padding.
Select to expand quotenswsailor said..
So it was upside down..sort of 
Yep. I thought it was in the first post. The rubber bits looked like they were there for a reason.
