[Rhodes22-list] failure of mast step

[Andrew Collins]

Richard 
Yes all of this had happened, the screws are short and will pull out if tje mast support starts to twist or lift.     You can and should change screws to SS. My tabernacle was deteriorated with radial cracks from the screw holes out and some chipping. I filled the holes with toothpicks and white epoxy sanded the top smooth, filled the chips with white epoxy, sanded again, masked the area and spray painted with white PU, re-drilled the holes and reinstalled the mast base bedded in white silicone. It wasn't all that much work and it looks fine. I know the bedding compound is supposed to be some other product, but the price was right. 
Best
Andrew C
sv Carmen

Sent from mobile device. 

On Mar 20, 2012, at 14:14, Richard MacArthur <Richard at MacArthurLawFirm.com> wrote:

> I use Stan's mast crane system to raise and lower my imf mast. It works well but I see that the part that takes the greatest stress is the mast step or tabernacle. It's fixed to the cabin top by screws which seem to be a non stainless steel metal. These have been out in the weather for quite some time and are subject to corrosion. Has anyone had these screws fail which would allow the mast to fall? Would it be a big project to replace them with stainless steel? Another possible problem is that the cabin top portion that the screws go into has deteriorated from water leaking into the area although that doesn't seem to be a problem in my boat. Any thoughts on this?
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