Looks like my wife is going to get a new boom for her birthday. Last year she got a new dripless stuffing box for the propeller shaft. She just doesn't seem as excited about her birthdays as she was before we got the boat.
I've given up on our existing (original) boom. The stainless outhaul slider car is fused to the track and won't budge 1 mm despite efforts by myself & two different shipyards, heat & cold treatments, soaking in vinegar, penetrating oils and hammers of all sizes (including vibrating ones).
End of Boom with Stuck Outhaul Slider (Car)
Also the sheaves at the end need to be replaced but the end piece needs to be removed in order to do that. That end piece is also fused/corroded onto the boom. There was apparently corrosion/pitting on the boom and the previous owner painted it. The paint is failing now too.
My first thought was to just get new boom tubing, and use all of the pieces & fittings from my current boom. I can remove them if I'm not worried about destroying the boom tube.
So I called my good friends at Rig Rite. I'm pretty sure they are in the middle of filming a reality show on how to provide really, really bad customer service. Bottom line: they want $1,699 for a 13 ft piece of Kenyon 3756 boom. That's just the tubing and no other fittings, etc.
I had chatted with US Spars folks at the Miami Boat show and gave them my specs. They offered up a complete boom (including all the fittings) for about $1,000. They also offered a boom that has some 'blemishes' for $470 complete with all the fittings. Four times less than Rig Rite's price for just the tube.
They sent me photos of the 'blemishes' and they are minor enough that most people wouldn't even notice them unless they were looking for them.
So I'm placing an order with US Spars and also getting their rigid boom vang. Their service has been outstanding so far. Immediate responses and quite knowledgeable. In stark contrast to Rig Rite. I've decided I'd rather whittle a boom with a pocket knife than give one more dollar to Rig Rite. Their customer service was 10 times worse and their price was over 4 times higher .... Huh?
I will need to grind about 2mm off the thickness of my existing Toggle, but I think a metal shop could do that quite quickly.
In case it helps anyone, below is a sketch I did of our existing boom. Note that we have a 384 and I believe 382s have a different Kenyon spar for their boom.
I'll post how this works out, including photos after I get the new boom.
I've given up on our existing (original) boom. The stainless outhaul slider car is fused to the track and won't budge 1 mm despite efforts by myself & two different shipyards, heat & cold treatments, soaking in vinegar, penetrating oils and hammers of all sizes (including vibrating ones).
End of Boom with Stuck Outhaul Slider (Car)
Also the sheaves at the end need to be replaced but the end piece needs to be removed in order to do that. That end piece is also fused/corroded onto the boom. There was apparently corrosion/pitting on the boom and the previous owner painted it. The paint is failing now too.
My first thought was to just get new boom tubing, and use all of the pieces & fittings from my current boom. I can remove them if I'm not worried about destroying the boom tube.
So I called my good friends at Rig Rite. I'm pretty sure they are in the middle of filming a reality show on how to provide really, really bad customer service. Bottom line: they want $1,699 for a 13 ft piece of Kenyon 3756 boom. That's just the tubing and no other fittings, etc.
I had chatted with US Spars folks at the Miami Boat show and gave them my specs. They offered up a complete boom (including all the fittings) for about $1,000. They also offered a boom that has some 'blemishes' for $470 complete with all the fittings. Four times less than Rig Rite's price for just the tube.
They sent me photos of the 'blemishes' and they are minor enough that most people wouldn't even notice them unless they were looking for them.
So I'm placing an order with US Spars and also getting their rigid boom vang. Their service has been outstanding so far. Immediate responses and quite knowledgeable. In stark contrast to Rig Rite. I've decided I'd rather whittle a boom with a pocket knife than give one more dollar to Rig Rite. Their customer service was 10 times worse and their price was over 4 times higher .... Huh?
I will need to grind about 2mm off the thickness of my existing Toggle, but I think a metal shop could do that quite quickly.
In case it helps anyone, below is a sketch I did of our existing boom. Note that we have a 384 and I believe 382s have a different Kenyon spar for their boom.
I'll post how this works out, including photos after I get the new boom.
