my mast step screws have pulled out of the cabin floor. I thought by cutting out around it and replacing what I thought was a wood block support I could replace it. I found out the floor is fiberglassed very strong to the mast support . Any body ever repaired a step on a 17' oday day sailor? Any ideas would be a help. thanks hornet
mast step
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See if you can pick up any of Don Casey's books on sailboat repair at your public library. Here's his site:
http://www.boatus.com/howto/howto_lib.htm
Joe
http://www.boatus.com/howto/howto_lib.htm
Joe
thanks joe, I will look for it. If I knew what I know now, I would have just put a 1/2'' ply block down and been done with it. I know I can repair it, It just will be more work gary
Gary, It is not hard to get a strong repair with fiberglass, core, etc. It is a little tricky to make the repair look original. but still with sandpaper and paint it can look nice. Could you take a picture and download it to give us an idea of what the problem is? I worked on mine yesterday and so could give lots of hints and advice, but you do want to read over it first. One of the things i did was to get a dvd on using epoxy from WestMarine. But unless you are going to do extensive repair, or want to try to make it as perfect as possible, i don't think that is necessary. Also i read and google as much as I can, and of course have the Don Casey stuff. I have found out two things about epoxy. One, it is a very forgiving materail to work with. Two, it is messy and gets everywhere! I can give you lots of hints to deal with the "messy" part.
Just ask!
Keith
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I may have mentioned this before and if I did, it bares being mentioned again. Before you start tearing out the mast step, try to measure off and mark out a reference point for your Tabernacle placement so that you can install it back in the same exact spot that it was in before you started your fiberglass reconstruction repair work. This will insure that the mast will to be correct with the center of equilateral resistance to the keel or centerboard. Use a good epoxy and it should come out reasonably well. Good luck with that.
Joe
Joe
See my post on the Day Sailers page, I have fixed my DS II after the same thing happened. Well, the screws hadn't pulled out yet....but the plywood underneath WAS rotten!
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