I pulled the mast from my 382 this last week. The mast step is
an cast aluminum piece lag screwed to the inside of the boat.
It appears not to have been anodized. It had sat in water so
long (and the drain hole was plugged so there must have been two
inches of water sitting inside the mast itself) that the mast
and the step had corroded together. When we pulled the mast,
the step lifted out with it, tearing out the lag screws.
Several well place blows with a mallet freed it to tumble back
into the bilge. I have cleaned it and will try to get it
anodized--and we will have to redrill the holes for bigger lag
screws.
Apropos of earlier discussions, my mast is stepped right
on top of the keel and the lag bolts appear to be screwed into
the lead itself.
an cast aluminum piece lag screwed to the inside of the boat.
It appears not to have been anodized. It had sat in water so
long (and the drain hole was plugged so there must have been two
inches of water sitting inside the mast itself) that the mast
and the step had corroded together. When we pulled the mast,
the step lifted out with it, tearing out the lag screws.
Several well place blows with a mallet freed it to tumble back
into the bilge. I have cleaned it and will try to get it
anodized--and we will have to redrill the holes for bigger lag
screws.
Apropos of earlier discussions, my mast is stepped right
on top of the keel and the lag bolts appear to be screwed into
the lead itself.