• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Have to repair my mast step/compression post--what tools do I need?

knoisewater

Member I
Hey all, here's the damage: http://imgur.com/a/5cam0

Anyway, I'm going to get the mast off, and replace the compression plate and post, and cut out the rotted wood (it's bulging underneath). What tools will I need? I have a few friends in the marine industry who can provide guidance, but I'd prefer to do it myself for the educational experience. I plan on kind of following this guide here, but they don't really detail what tools they have: http://home.comcast.net/~independence31/core/looksbad.html

Thanks!
 

PDX

Member III
You say, "Compression plate and post." Your post is down below the cabintop and immediately forward of your main salon bulkhead. The photo only shows the bulkhead side. What is the extent of the damage of the post itself?

As for tools, first tool you'll need for sure is a grinder.
 

knoisewater

Member I
Ah yeah I wasn't very descriptive in my first post...

The previous owner redid the chainplates, but I believe he incorrectly adjusted the rigging. It's hard to see in the picture, but the compression post is bulging slightly to the right... Which we believe caused the slight ripping On the deck, which let water in. The rust color tells me that the pressure plate is rusting, so I will probably have to replace that. Anyway, the plan is to remove the mast, cut out the deck and rotted wood, replace the plate and the post with an aluminum one, reglass it and restep the mast.

In the same vein (and since I've never done this before), is it a difficult job? And I think I accidentally cut the VHF antenna when I was disconnecting the wires... Add that to the list!
 

knoisewater

Member I
Holy thread revival. I actually finished this project two years ago, but I wrote up a blog post about how I did it. I'm putting it here in case other people run into the same issue and want a little guidance.

Here's the entry: http://kingtidesailing.blogspot.com/2015/09/sailboat-compression-post-repair-and.html

nice1.jpg

Basically, due to a shoddy installation of the deck-based hardware for the halyards and over tension, the deck warped just enough to crack the gelcoat and let water underneath, where it completely rusted out a milled steel compression plate directly underneath the mast. This plate was sitting on the deck, and the compression post underneath had no plate for itself. Eventually, this post warped to the right a bit, which exacerbated the problem.

To fix it, I tore out the entire section of deck, engineered a new aluminum compression post, put a plate on both sides of the deck, and restepped the mast. It's a beautiful piece of work now, although I didn't do a very good job with the cosmetics due to a time crunch.
 
Last edited:

garryh

Member III
I have this job ahead of me and would love to scope out the blog. The link does not work (as in nothing there)... and the Independence link at the top does not work at all.
Do these expire at some point..?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I have this job ahead of me and would love to scope out the blog. The link does not work (as in nothing there)... and the Independence link at the top does not work at all.
Do these expire at some point..?

This member has not logged in for a while. Click on his name and choose the option of sending a private message.
Remember that external links can fail because the destination address has changed. That's one good reason for always placing your pictures within this site and also putting your blog in that section here, too.
 

garryh

Member III
thanks for that link... lots of great info there. Not looking forward to this at all!
When does the fun start..?!
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Very helpful repair article with great photos. Modest commentary....
:)

Nicely done!

The best of my 'upgrades' could also be described.... as, "That looks about right."
 
Last edited:

knoisewater

Member I
Very helpful repair article with great photos. Modest commentary....
:)

Nicely done!

The best of my 'upgrades' could also be described.... as, "That looks about right."

In a similar vein, I recall wishing I had gotten a much larger diameter post, and centered the post on the base plate. The boat builders insisted the diameter they gave me was sufficient, and I have no reason to doubt them, but it's more just a "warm fuzzy feeling" that comes with overbuilt and overengineered items. And I had to offset the post like a quarter of an inch from centerline because, strangely, that's how this model was designed (which inevitably led to this problem in the first place), but if I were to center it, I would've had to move the holding tank, and that sounded like an awful job... so I just went with the original spec. Again, nothing wrong with it, but I think I would've preferred the over engineered design instead of the factory design. In any case, it performed flawlessly and I know she's still out there sailing just fine six years later.
 

garryh

Member III
@knoisewater... thanks for getting back to us with this. Very useful info for anyone about to get into this.... the details even more useful if one happens to be doing this on the 35-2.
One thing it brings to mind that I had not considered yet was how to get the mast shoe oriented properly in three planes when rebuilding that area. You would not want to be too far off in any one plane or the mast would not bear properly, and therefore not distribute forces fairly over the newly rebuilt mast foot area.
 
Top