Ken
I agree photos would help here. It sounds like a couple things may be going on here. I recommend a through check of the beam, the columns that support it and the deck core directly below the mast step.
Beam: is the beam compressed in the middle where it has been drilled out for fasteners and wiring? (mine was) Is it compressed where it crosses the columns at the passageway? It is supported by roughly a 2x2 at that point. Are there any tell tale fractures across the grain in either area? The only way to tell is to grind off the paint to see. If the beam has a small depression where it meets the column (or none), and there are no cracks and no rot then Ebb’s epoxy fix will work just fine.
If there are cracks or signs of Rot… reach for the Sawzall. The Beam is held in place with 3 to 4 wood screws (port and stbd) installed from the cabin side (hidden by the formica). I elected to cut them flush on the vee berth side. Making a new beam is easy if you have a band saw, not much harder with a recip saw and an angle grinder. If there is any doubt about the beam, it is worth the piece of mind to change it. Although the deck beam doesn’t look like it can take it, the design load for the mast step is often a high fraction of the boat’s displacement. (refer to Brian Toss’ book for the test case at 45 degrees heel on a boat’s standing rigging). In Periwinkle’s case (A-231) the beam had both rot and a fracture in the middle of the beam. The replacement was a white oak beam glued up from two planks, rough cut to a paper template of the old beam and trimmed to fit with a grinder. My replacement beam is now screwed in place with wood screws thru the bulkhead at the original factory location. Installation of the beam followed Ebb’s suggestion with the beam buttered in thickened epoxy before final assembly. One alteration I made from the factory install was to relocate the mast wiring to a tube on the stbd side of the mast mast step. After fabricating a new mast beam I couldn’t bring myself to drill a big hole in the middle of it for a wire chase.
Columns: Compression at the top is possible, but I haven’t seen it or any photo’s of pearson tritons and ariels with that symptom. See if there is any rot top or bottom that might indicate the column and the bulkhead moving down. This would be bad but again there is easy access on the vee-berth side to affect a repair.
Deck: While you are there, make sure the deck under the mast step doesn’t need to be recored. I’ve pulled my mast step twice. Once for the restoration and again when the deck core under the mast step failed. I believe the deck directly under the mast step should be solid ‘glass (or at least plywood). The original Balsa on mine was both crushed and wet when I opened the deck after 4 years of service. No issues since replacing the core with glass for a couple inches around the mast step. I recommend checking the deck core while all of this work is in progress because this is an easy extra step while the mast step is out.
Good luck
bill@ariel231
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