harrytheboss
Junior Member
Hi All-
There are a few posts across the forum about this, but I wanted to see if there was anyone who had any firsthand success dealing with such a repair.
I was at my mooring the other day, yanked on one of my side stays in just the wrong way and the starboard side spreader disconnected clean from the mast. Sent my buddy up and it sheared right under the top bolt into the mast, and right above the thru-bolt that holds in the inner stays onto the mast. We attempted a JB-weld, however that lasted about 30 minutes before disconnecting from the mast in the same way.
Our current plan is to take the boat into the marina and stabilize the mast with a crane since in order to fully remove the part, we will need to remove the thru-bolt connecting the inner stays. Alternatively, we may drop the mast entirely while this happens.
There are a few metallurgists in town whom I intend to talk to this week about welding the part back together. I understand this is a multi-step process that needs to be done correctly in order to preserve the strength of the piece; and that not all aluminum can even be welded, and I'll double check that it can be done before we take everything down.
The other option is to buy a new set of spreaders and brackets; while I'm not elated at that thought as it means taking everything down; swapping and lifting back up; I don't know of anywhere that sells a single or pair of brackets that will do the job.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
There are a few posts across the forum about this, but I wanted to see if there was anyone who had any firsthand success dealing with such a repair.
I was at my mooring the other day, yanked on one of my side stays in just the wrong way and the starboard side spreader disconnected clean from the mast. Sent my buddy up and it sheared right under the top bolt into the mast, and right above the thru-bolt that holds in the inner stays onto the mast. We attempted a JB-weld, however that lasted about 30 minutes before disconnecting from the mast in the same way.
Our current plan is to take the boat into the marina and stabilize the mast with a crane since in order to fully remove the part, we will need to remove the thru-bolt connecting the inner stays. Alternatively, we may drop the mast entirely while this happens.
There are a few metallurgists in town whom I intend to talk to this week about welding the part back together. I understand this is a multi-step process that needs to be done correctly in order to preserve the strength of the piece; and that not all aluminum can even be welded, and I'll double check that it can be done before we take everything down.
The other option is to buy a new set of spreaders and brackets; while I'm not elated at that thought as it means taking everything down; swapping and lifting back up; I don't know of anywhere that sells a single or pair of brackets that will do the job.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
