FYI for anyone with mast support struts and cold winters

[AndyL]

Not sure what the official name is for the two struts that support the bottom of the mast on some 356/36 models with traditional mains.

Anyway... last winter one of my struts bent while on the hard. After some investigation it turned out to have water in it and the assumption was that it froze. This was backed up by the fact that part of the tube had expanded slightly, presumably due to ice pressure. I needed to have a new strut made.

This year I've taken the struts off and emptied them out, then stored them in the aft cabin. If you're in an area with hard freezes in the winter you might want to check for water in the struts.

 

[danm1]

Was there water in the struts when you removed them? And aren't you concerned about leaving the mast up with less support on the hard?

 

[AndyL]

There was a little water in one strut. I was not concerned and nor were the marina staff when the boat sat in the water without struts for a while in the spring, while they looked into the issue and had a new strut fabricated. I believe they are only needed when sailing.

That said, I did start to worry that if anything did happen, the insurance might make some adverse decision because the struts were off. Who knows.

Anyway, I decided to put them back and try sealing the threaded rods instead.

 

[marcham]

Same goes for the mast! There is a drain hole at the bottom, overtime crud builds up and can cause the mast base to crack in freezing conditions, due to water accumulation. Check it each fall....

 

[Neil Spooner]

The struts are there to support the mast from sailing loads. There should be no load on the struts normally if they are adjusted correctly. I have checked mine when sailing and the rod end at the mast will slide freely indicating no load on them.
I would think the best solution to the water ingress is to simply drill a small hole in the bottom so that any water can drain out. This is something I will do later.
When I replaced the rigging on my H356 I did not find any water in the struts when they were removed.

 

[sailme88]

Are these deck stepped masts? This struts are so low that I can't imagine they'd do anything but support the lower 5 ' of mast..

 

[shemandr]

Yes the 356 has a deck stepped mast and I assume the 36 does also.