Major screw-up?

Aug 3, 2014
65
Beneteau 343 San Francisco Bay
2006 343 w/ mainsail furling. Main would not furl so that leading edge of the "cover" was inside the mast, by about 4" (furling line was fully played out at that point). Wanted to see if an easy adjustment could be made with the furling line. Removed the four bolts holding the heavy housing and furling spindle. Was never able to elicit how the furling line was attached to the spindle, so decided to put it back together. Here's the horror: the pawls or nuts, that take the bolts mentioned above, are placed from inside the mast & protrude very slightly into what normally is the sail track. The pawl/nuts are not pressed into place, I don't even know if they were glued in initially. When starting the housing bolts back in, DINK !?#, the pawls/nuts fell about 24"+ down inside and to the base of the mast, leaving just their holes in the mast.

So, is it likely that I'm going to have to get it to a rigging yard? Has anybody had this problem? Comments on best way to tackle the fix (I'm very handy and mechanical - I know you might not think so, having done this!). I guess I envision lowering the main halyard just a bit, so the shackle above the furling spindle can be removed, freeing the sail. But, is there a reasonable way to disconnect the spindle from the internal furling rod? If so, can one then reasonably remove the spindle and its housing? If so, I might be able to retrieve the pawls/nuts, but even if I can, I'm not sure how one would keep them in place while all goes back together.

Anybody have any links that diagram this assembly?

Many thanks for constructive answers.
:redface:
 
Aug 3, 2014
65
Beneteau 343 San Francisco Bay
I was able to find all of the info about how to make the furling-line adjustments, remove the spindle/drum, etc. However, there is nowhere that I could find that discusses the inside-the-mast nuts and their delicate placement. Phoned US Spars this a.m., and was told that those inside nuts are just held in place by Sikaflex or other similar compound. You can imagine that something like that is going to degrade fairly rapidly, and only provides a weak bond at best. So, seeing as that there is not any warning in the literature, if anybody goes to remove the main-furler housing to make adjustments, replacements, or servicing, be hugely cautious in removing the housing machine bolts. And be even more cautious in replacing them, as it's incredibly easy to knock those nuts off the inside of the mast, creating a day-long dismantle, seek-and-find nuts in the bottom of the mast, then put it all back together!