Ok been going over the new to us boat (catalina 30 1980) fixing this and that. I trusted the PO about the spreaders being good to go (the survey did not cover rigging sadly) as he said no rot and he paints them every year. We have only had the boat about two months.
so I climbed up the mast and noticed some rot on the starboard spreader and my finger tips sunk in as I was climbing. It also wobbles a bit. The port one is ok but I would like to replace both as soon as funds come my way. I heard you can replace them without stepping the mast down. Money is tight right now and I would like to repair or replace. Here is the problem though my mast has steps installed and the step cable stays go through the spreaders:cussing:
the wife is mad at me because "the expensive survey did not find this". I explained that we only had the boat survey and not the rigging and engine ones. So If I can at all postpone unstepping the mast until we put the boat on the hard after another year that would be ideal.
My ideas include that WEST epoxy that fits in a caulking gun and some strategic holes drilled/filled.
or harder: adding turnbuckles to the ladder rigging so I can remove the spreaders one at a time and replace.
Also I'm running out of time/money this season before the boat is on the hard this month. Can I climb the mast on the Hard? I used to live in Oregon and climbed and mountaineered my whole life
here are some bad iphone photos as I only had one free hand
and you can see the ladder rigging better here
thanks for any help or ideas
so I climbed up the mast and noticed some rot on the starboard spreader and my finger tips sunk in as I was climbing. It also wobbles a bit. The port one is ok but I would like to replace both as soon as funds come my way. I heard you can replace them without stepping the mast down. Money is tight right now and I would like to repair or replace. Here is the problem though my mast has steps installed and the step cable stays go through the spreaders:cussing:
the wife is mad at me because "the expensive survey did not find this". I explained that we only had the boat survey and not the rigging and engine ones. So If I can at all postpone unstepping the mast until we put the boat on the hard after another year that would be ideal.
My ideas include that WEST epoxy that fits in a caulking gun and some strategic holes drilled/filled.
or harder: adding turnbuckles to the ladder rigging so I can remove the spreaders one at a time and replace.
Also I'm running out of time/money this season before the boat is on the hard this month. Can I climb the mast on the Hard? I used to live in Oregon and climbed and mountaineered my whole life
here are some bad iphone photos as I only had one free hand
and you can see the ladder rigging better here
thanks for any help or ideas