Oxidized Aluminum mast and boom

[dhays]

Thanks for all the great replies to my dodger window question. So here is another one.

Any suggestions on what to use on a 5 year old mast and boom that have been sitting out in the SoCal sun? They are pretty badly oxidized. I'd like to polish them to get rid of the oxidation and then protect them from further insult.

[killarney_sailor]

The oxidation is the best protection there is for your spars. As soon as you remove what is there it will start to oxidize immediately. Your only realistic option is to paint the spars but that is not a simple solution since it involves extensive preparation and painting

[rmeador]

The boat I just bought has a painted aluminum mast and boom. There was a storm right before we did the sea trial and the main halyard broke loose. The halyard is wire, and did a fair bit of scratching on the mast. I was thinking it was perfectly safe from corrosion, as killarney_sailor said, but my broker suggested I paint the mast. He made painting it sound easy...