At the time that we bought the boat, we noted that the mast step was a little loose. The bolt and screw holding the mast step allowed the step to lift a little above the deck of the boat. Sandi had already looked into this. She wanted to put a new Mast Step Halyard Plate under the mast step anyway, giving it six points to clip various lines onto.
While we were on vacation, Sandi had ordered new stuff from Catalina Direct, including the Halyard Plate ($39.95) and a Mast Step Mounting Kit ($12.95).
She removed the mast step by unbolting it, and removing the screw that sinks through the deck into the top of the post in the cabin. We decided to use the longer of the two screws supplied as it bit into the wood a little better. Adhesive was applied and the Mast Step Halyard Plate was put down, followed by the Mast Step.
The adhesive needs five to seven days to cure, preventing us from putting the boat in the water for a while. At this point, we still do not know for sure that she floats.
Other stuff Sandi ordered:
- Sail Tape: White Dacron 15 ft $6.53
- Rigging Tape Self Amalgamating 19.12
- Batten Set $24.32
- Tension Gauge $78.00
- West System Handy Pack Epoxy Kit $14.68
- Teak Oil $19.95
The sail tape was needed to repair a 1" tear in the mainsail. It's a must for any sailboat maintenance kit. The batten set was ordered since two of the four mainsail battens were broken into multiple pieces. The cost of replacing just two individual battens was essentially the same as buying the entire batten replacement kit.
After getting several fiberglass splinters while gluing on the first end cap, she decided to sand them down gently with some very fine sandpaper. It worked great. No more fiberglass splinters and no need to worry when handling them to put them into or remove them from the mainsail.
We have created a page on using the Loos Tension Gauge, because the instructions may as well have been written in Rongorongo.
