The Mast before:
Note globs of silicone...
And the corrosion on the sheave plates. They were not too bad off considering, but I decided to clean them up and paint them.
The mast After:
Acid-etched, Primed (2 coats), and painted with Interlux "Perfection" 2-part Polyurethane (3 Coats) -This stuff is Very Shiny & HARD!
I had some one-part polyurethane paint in red that allowed for further procrastination... Now this commander will be recognized from a distance...
I also painted the propeller red, but then I put all the paint away before I got carried away!
- Note the nicely cleaned rigging and new topping lift block & windvane (the old windex was reduced to the rear end of the arrow and some twisted bits of metal - it was very sad.)
I also replaced the Jib Halyard block as the one in place had a sheave for a wire halyard. It is a nice block and is in great shape. This is now to be the muilti-use spare block on board.
The windvane & my handheld VHF are the highest 'tech' pieces of equipment on this Commander!
The nicely finished Teak coambings are now installed and I plan on installing my new traveler base & tuning the rig this weekend.
Yes... the mast is on!
Last edited by Rico; 04-14-2009 at 01:02 PM.
Reason: Tried to use a link for picture... Got it! (3rd try!)
In case anyone missed what I found on 338's mast -
That fitting that attaches the jib halyard block to the mast over the big wire sheave was badly corroded. Dangerously corroded.
(post 23 - on the underside in the before shot
and on the top of the spar in the after shot.)
The tang was held on with 4 #12 machine screws. On my mast the aluminum was just about completely reduced to white powder under the fitting.
Ebb; I saw the same type of isolating material underneath this tang as I found underneath the sailtrack on the mast... I am puzzled by the apparent switch in production tactics by the pearson factory... e.g. Aluminum vs SS spreader bases; Al Rivets, vs SS screws for the mast track, etc.???
Perhaps a previous owner's solution for the fastening of your mast's tang??
I think that the little bird outline will look great on 'Little Gull's' mast. I knew I wanted to do something there... but it took me a while to figure out what to do. Then the obvious came to me!
It is amazing how hard it is to spot familiar boats out in the bay... I figure this would be a great help. Maybe this way I can actually get some pictures of the 'Mephisto Cat' actually sailing!
C-227: Feel free to copy... but royalties may be in order!
The Mephisto Cat is now wet, the mast is stepped, and it is ready for a bit of sailing to tune the rig...
But we are NOT there yet... I'll first post a bit about the improvements in the lazarette...
The middle picture is the 'before' condition.
I'd not yet taken the mast down from the carrier and we'd already started to dig into the demo scope. (This picture was taken about 8 months ago!!) The first step was the famed weak point: The Backstay chainplate in the lazarette...
But in getting to this and since I'd had my eye on this bit of a moist spot on the floor of the lazarette we got a bit distracted; A bit of poking around resulted in what you see... Water had found its way into the void under the lazarette floor and the foam filling was pretty soaked on the starboard side.
This was cleaned out, to find everything else in good order. The floor of the lazarette was replaced with new plywood & glass and then new foam was injected.
This brings us to the initial issue - the backstay chainplate:
Note the small Brass screws in the 2nd Picture. These are the standard fasteners to the small knee /brace. There are 3 of these bolts, but I had already removed one before I remembered to take a pic....
You can also see the top edge of the knee... Not the strongest design. There was not really any sign of stress or fatigue to indicate an issue, but this element always seemed to be a bit undersized... A jolt could break this structure and I can imagine the whole thing pulled apart...
Note the original Pearson finish in this pic. - I wish I knew the history of this Commander, but it seems to have been pretty well taken care of considering its 40+ year history.
The new design is seen in the 3rd picture. Some strategically placed plywood and fiberglass. All covered with a bit of mat for good measure.
This was taken before we decided to fill the small gap between the rear edge/lip of the well and the transom. This area is /was always hard to reach and tended to collect muck... It is no longer accessible... Now the rear 'lip' of the well continues aft where it meets the transom.
I feel much better about this configuration. Likely overbuilt for a production run, but we only have one backstay!
Now I will have many other things to worry about, and will likely need to abandon ship before even starting to worry about this chainplate failing... -Knocking on wood...
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Transom / Lazarette Structural reinforcement
