I have a short section of track on the front of my mast. The previous owner added this to support his hammock ;-) I am adding a pole, and will use a car which fits the extruded grooves on the front of the mast, put there for the purpose. To do this, I'll remove the six foot section of track. The mast has been drilled and tapped every six inches to bolt on the track. When it comes off, the holes remain. Any ideas on what to do about them? I can only think to install SS set screws, with antiseize, setting them flush with the surface of the mast. Any other ideas?
- Status
What I did
I have the same setup on my 33.5. When I bought the boat I asked the owner why he installed the track and didn't use the mast car system. He said that the car system uses lines and cleats to raise and lower it, which can be done from the cockpit, but he didn't want to drill all the holes in the deck and fuss with all the lines. So he installed the track anyway (which uses a locking car) since he used a cruising spinnaker and didn't really move the pole ring much anyway. It made sense to me and I haven't changed it, but if I did, I guess I would do what mentioned, install SS machine srews to fill the holes. Or maybe nylon screws, since they aren't really securing anything.
I have the same setup on my 33.5. When I bought the boat I asked the owner why he installed the track and didn't use the mast car system. He said that the car system uses lines and cleats to raise and lower it, which can be done from the cockpit, but he didn't want to drill all the holes in the deck and fuss with all the lines. So he installed the track anyway (which uses a locking car) since he used a cruising spinnaker and didn't really move the pole ring much anyway. It made sense to me and I haven't changed it, but if I did, I guess I would do what mentioned, install SS machine srews to fill the holes. Or maybe nylon screws, since they aren't really securing anything.
Plug Holes
You might consider stainless steel set screws to plug the holes. Those are the ones with no heads, but have a hex hole in them. That way you could screw them in flush with the mast and not have to worry about counter sinking screws. Anti-sieze is a good idea so that they won't cause corrosion and blister up the anodizing. There are also closed blind rivits that are not open all the way through. You could use aluminum ones. That way you minimize the corrosion potential. Just make sure that the heads (which are pretty thin) don't interfere with the pole car. I have seen these types of rivits around. They are primarily used for aircraft.
You might consider stainless steel set screws to plug the holes. Those are the ones with no heads, but have a hex hole in them. That way you could screw them in flush with the mast and not have to worry about counter sinking screws. Anti-sieze is a good idea so that they won't cause corrosion and blister up the anodizing. There are also closed blind rivits that are not open all the way through. You could use aluminum ones. That way you minimize the corrosion potential. Just make sure that the heads (which are pretty thin) don't interfere with the pole car. I have seen these types of rivits around. They are primarily used for aircraft.
Why not Weld?
You could weld them up with appropriate aluminum/butane rig, sand it down smooth, and after another year in the weather, you probably couldn't tell the difference from the original mast. No screws, no corrosion, permanent, looks better. Be careful not to melt the PVC tubes full of wires just inside the mast.
You could weld them up with appropriate aluminum/butane rig, sand it down smooth, and after another year in the weather, you probably couldn't tell the difference from the original mast. No screws, no corrosion, permanent, looks better. Be careful not to melt the PVC tubes full of wires just inside the mast.
Oh Yeah...
...forgot something. Instead of any metal fix, you could use plastic or wood dowel, hammer it in the hole, cut it off, paint to match mast. The wood would last about 5 years before having to be replaced. The plastic would last forever except the paint would probably come off of it every year.
...forgot something. Instead of any metal fix, you could use plastic or wood dowel, hammer it in the hole, cut it off, paint to match mast. The wood would last about 5 years before having to be replaced. The plastic would last forever except the paint would probably come off of it every year.
- Status