Mast boot.....
Ken.... We were faced with the same problem 12 years ago, and the leakage at the partners had made for a soft spot in the deck just to port, so I killed two birds. I went to the "used" chandlery and got one of those stainless steel plates that you see at the base of some masts. The plate lays flat on the cabin top right around the mast, but its perimeter is bent up at a 45-degree angle with 1" perforations all around it. It makes a perfect place to attach the shackles for all the blocks that you use as turning blocks when you lead all the lines aft. I cut the plate in half athwartships so I could fit it around the mast and drilled 1/4" holes in strategic places in the flat portion, then drilled the corresponding tapped holes below in the top plate of the partners. I then spread a "bed" of 3M#5200 on the deck and all around the mast. As I pressed the plate halves down, squeezing the goop into every gap, I put 1/4"-20 x 1/2" SS hex-head bolts thru each of the holes and threaded into the top plate, screwing them down until I had a uniform 1/8-3/16" layer all around. It cured for a week, then I tightened the screws a turn or so and.......dry! 12 years later it's still good, and the soft spot is still soft, but it never grew an inch!I'll get to that repair later....yeah. If I ever have to pull the stick, it might get "sticky", but I'll deal with that then. Also, halogen lites are 5/$30 at Home depot.
