Hi all...
As posted in another thread I'm new to Daysailers but not new to sailboats. Need a little help here with this one.
So, yesterday evening I rigged the boat in the driveway with no problems except for attaching the short mast section that runs from the top of the cuddy to the mast step. It appears to just sit on the step casting with no fasteners whatsoever. I understand that the mast (when rigged) is under a constant vertical load and held down to, and around the step casting by the stays. My exciting moment of the evening came when I was tilting the mast back down and as soon as enough of the mast weight got behind me it lifted the cuddy section, tabernacle and all right out and I had to be very quick reacting to prevent the mast head from hitting the ground. Whew!
Now, I've searched the forum and I must not be using the right search criteria because I found nothing except a photo of someone's mast secured to the step with a long SS pin going through both mast and step laterally. Neither my lower mast section nor my step casting have any holes drilled in them for fasteners of any kind. I can perform that modification on mine if necessary but I'm wondering if its wise to unscrew the step from the keelson and drill the hole in my shop or take a drill to it inside the cuddy? Also, I'm not wild about fastening aluminum with SS due to the corrosion one gets with fastening dis-similar metals especially in a wet environment.
Any ideas? Suggestions are welcome and feel free to laugh at my DS ineptitude.
Thanks.
Eric