H34 Masthead Assembly - Corrosion

[mnmpizza]

Greetings sailors! I removed my mast on the H34 yesterday. Not too many surprises, however I'm seeing a lot of galvanic corrosion on both the forestay and backstay 1/2" pin. See the attached picture. It appears to be about a 1/8" gap. Is there any fix for this - - say a "sleeve" or something? I can't imagine this isn't a common occurrence on 32+ yr. old boats...

Please let me know how concerned I should be and if there is a fix for this. Thanks, Shannon

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[heart of gold]

I had a machinist weld a cheek plate over these holes then drilled new ones that fit the pin. I think this is more a wear issue from the rig being slightly loose and bouncing around.

 

[mnmpizza]

Makes sense on the ‘loose rig’ comment.

 

[kloudie1]

If ya can't put in an oversized pin (s) because of the toggles size, then a bushing or sleeve is appropriate.. If you can find a standard size pin sleeve, you will probably have to carefully drill and fit it into the masthead..
Stainless is the appropriate material.

 

[mnmpizza]

I have a friend making two bushings which will be fitted from the "inside out". Should have something back by Wednesday.

 

[mnmpizza]

Shout out to Bob (my neighbor). As you can see, he’s got great skills and set me up with two bronze “inside out” bushings which incorporate the cotter pin. The rig now has redundancy - if a cotter pin were to fall out, the main pin would still remain.

Thanks Bob!

 

[BigEasy]

Looking good; one step at a time! We should all have neighbors like Bob.