I've mention in previous posts that my mast is grafted together using oak inserts from 3 pieces of aluminum extrusion. I worry about the strength issues and the mast failing while at sea. So I derigged my mast and took it apart. Now I need to find a better and more permenant way to fix this. I basically have 2 options:
1. Find a heliarc welder who can weld the pieces together as well as adding aluminum sleeves to the outside to regain the strength lost from the repair. I don't know how easy it will be to find a suitable extrusion for the sleeve but this is probably the cheaper solution.
2. Buy a new mast. Dwyer Spars has my mast extrusion and they will sell me one for $530 bucks sans the hardware. The killer is shipping will cost me another $200 or so.
I posted a message on the ODay forum to see if anyone there had experiences with this issue. I would hate to have to buy a new one since the old one, although in pieces, is not in too bad of shape. This hopefully will be the last big problems I will have to deal with before launching the boat in May.
I did some more work to it this weekend but I will have to take some photos before I make another post about the upgrades. I am waiting for my motor to get here but I have not heard from them. Time to make another call to BoatsUnlimitedNY.com to see what the hell is going on. they charged my credit card long ago but have not told me anything about when to expect it. Once I do receive the motor though, I think I'm going to launch the boat to make sure the hull is sound by motoring around. It will give the new motor a little time to break in as well.
