These are on my todo list. In addition to being on the hard, my mast is
also unstepped. Though, I am not quite sure how to do some of these things
yet.
If you hadn't posted to here before, welcome!
I know that the wood under the mast step can rot -- but how do I see what
is going on? The metal plate that the mast sits on doesn't want to budge,
though I also didn't force it.
The Tartan 27 Handbook available in the files area of the Yahoo group has
some discussion and sometimes illustrations about each of those things.
If you've seen that already and I'm repeating stuff you know, I apologize.
p.60 has discussion and p.61 has diagrams.
It looks like you'd have to pull up flooring to look but I can't confirm.
The W.D.Schlock west-coast built Tartans have fiberglass pan in the head
and main galley (with a long wooden flooring over the bilge in the main
galley), and the pan in the head has an access hatch.
The T27Handbook does suggest drilling a drain hole through the mast step
so if nothing else, perhaps a fairly large hole would allow you to feel
the state of the plywood under the plate. But that doesn't help with
the wood the step sits on.
Hopefully other people can comment here.
Good that you're at least aware of that. Wish so many boats so old
without some bits of maintence, I hope you'll forgive me for double checking.
I definitely have an external ballast with keel bolts. But.. what I am
supposed to be seeing? I can see the top of the bolts in the bilge, but I
am not sure that tells me much. Do I need to inspect and reapply a sealant
on the outside where the lead meets the fiberglass? Do I need to actually
take the keel off so I can see the entire length of the bolts?
Main problem with keelbolts is if they start to rust through from water
having sat in the bilge. Take the nuts off one at a time so the lead
keel is still attached -- but this is also 2nd hand (talking out of my
backside). The West Coast build switched to fully encapsulated earlier.
Re-assemble with heavy grease or non-permenant threadlock or something
else to help keep water out of the threads.
Looking at one or two should be adequate.
Don't know about the bedding between the keel and the boat. I guess
Catalina keels will start to pull free and this isn't a major problem and
that seems awfully odd to me.
The boat normally lives on a cradle where I don't have access to the
centerboard, but since I am not at my home port right now, I had them set
me up high on jackstands so that I can take off and inspect the
centerboard.
When I put the caps back on in the bilge, do I need to use any sort of
sealant to avoid leaks?**
I'm being useless again. Had the yard do this for me and didn't ask what
they did.
They should be NPT threaded which is a plumbing thing designed to be water
tight, but maybe ask at the plumbing department of the local hardware store
if something should be in there? New caps couldn't hurt either assuming
compatible alloys.
Putting the centerboard back in is a two person job so don't pull it if
you can't bribe help. And if you don't want to mess with the pin, you
should still be able to service the uphaul. People sometimes lose their
centerboards then are left trying to replace it but otherwise that's
less critical than other things.
Mine were supposedly redone a decade ago -- but they are also still
encrusted in fiberglass. I do plan to pull them out and inspect them
before I restep the mast. But, I am not sure I am willing to redo them
properly them until I am done doing America's Great Loop. I've already
been on the hard too long.
Inspection is a great idea. I think consensus is that the fiberglass isn't
helpful and is counterproductive or cutting them out and checking them
is exactly what you want to do.
This is one of my biggest concerns, but I am also not sure how it could
even be inspected.. I believe that my rudder post is bronze. The inside of
the rudder seems to be filled with some sort of cement like substance.
- jeremy
That design may have saved my bacon. What would be inspected would just be
fiberglass pulling away from the metal where the stock goes in to the rudder,
and possibily using a moisture meter or drilling an inspection hole to
figure out if it is waterlogged. But eyeballing the metal and fiberglass
at the top may give a clue on the state of things. If a small flat feeler
gauge can be pushed in, that would indicate problems.
Awesome to hear that you're out voyaging! All of the best on your trip.
Cheers,
-scott
