Aluminum step
The hunters from this vintage had an aluminum step consisting of a plate theat sits on the deck, and an aluminum column that extends a few inches up into the mast. There is a drainage hole, and the step is fastened down by bolts that penetrate the whole step structure into the cabin over the compression post. A tube of about 1 inch diameter carries the electrical wires (antenna, lights, etc.) down the center of the step into the cabin. The step structure from the top is aluminum plate, fiberglass, plywood, deck fiberglass, deck balsa wood, inner deck fiberglass, and cabin liner. After 20+ years, water had penetrated this structure, and I just replaced all but the inner giberglass layer and liner on Lady Lillie (a '77 h27). I doing so, we replaced the balsa (which luckily had only rotted in the step area) with a 3/8ths aluminum plate, and ensured that all of the holes were lined with epoxy to prevent future migration of water into the wood. I'm not sure what your boat has today from your description, but do advise you to get after fixing it. Actually, damage to the balsa core can be potentially the worst of the consequences. The archives have a number of descriptions of the required work, but basically it means grinding our the fiberglass, pulling out all the rotted wood, and rebuiling the step. By the way, after completing this rebuild, replacing the forward hatch, and remounting the deck hardware with epoxy lined holes, Lady Lillie's bilge is staying dry! David Lady Lillie David
