Traveler Trouble

[Jetexas]

I found all the forums discussing the best way to rebed your traveler, and I'm going to use the butyl tape. However, my current problem is how do I remove the traveler?!!!

Mine is mounted in the cockpit and screws down along the entire length. There's a screw about every 6 inches. Well, I started unscrewing the screws, and due to being in sealant, they don't come out of their holes. In other words, you can spin the screw forever, and while it's not screwed into anything, it's not coming up. I tried using a magnet to suck them out of the holes, but it wasn't strong enough. I tried using a little pick to poke them out of the holes, but there wasn't enough room.

That wouldn't be a problem if the traveler came up once all the screws were spinning in limbo, but even with all of them unscrewed, that thing does not want to budge! We pried on it a little to no avail, and I don't want to use a big pry bar and end up bending it.

So the thing is leaking through the screw holes. If I could get the screws out to put some sealant in each hole and screw them back in, it would probably be fine. However, I can't access them from underneath.

Any ingenious ideas on how to remove the traveler, so I can rebed the entire thing or on how to get the screws out of the holes, so I can put new sealant in each hole?

Thanks in advance.

[TOPGALLANT32]

have a good look on the underside. Ill bet there are nuts on the screws that are spinning as well

[pressuredrop]

agreed, i would be very surprised if it wasnt bolted down, if it was screwed in and sailed a lot i doubt it would still be there. look on the brightside, you get to brush up your contorsionist act