No bolts on mine - gooseneck slides in the sail track - Not sure I'd want to
have a fixed gooseneck - actually come to think of it I've never owned a
sailboat with a fixed gooseneck 

Dave
C27 #5212
Windabout
Cape Cod, MA
http://dpbcc.home.comcast.net
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeffery L. Sheler
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 8:20 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: boom connection

I like that idea. So, no bolts into the mast itself?


-----Original Message-----
>From: Robert Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: May 13, 2006 8:48 PM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: boom connection
>
>Why not just contact Catalina Direct and get a new, adjustable
>connection?  I replaced mine a couple years ago.  I think it was $70.
>My boom rides in the sail slide track.  This allows you to raise the
>boom to various different heights, or to use a down-haul to tighten the
>luff.  I have an '85.
>
>Bob Mann
>Windcatcher
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [email protected] [mailto:catalina27-
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeffery L. Sheler
>> Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 5:12 PM
>> To: [email protected]
>> Subject: catalina27-talk: boom connection
>> 
>> OK, so I decided to raise the boom about 7 inches on the mast to allow
>> more
>> headroom in the cockpit and possibly make room for a bimini some day.
>(I
>> have 10 to 12 inches leeway at the top of the mast when the mainsail
>is
>> fully raised.) I disconnected the boom by pulling the pin at the
>> gooseneck,
>> and with some difficulty removed four bolts that fasten the bracket to
>the
>> mast. In the process, I stripped one bolt and had to drill it out,
>which
>> also ruined the threads on the receiving end of the bracket. (The
>bolts
>> screw into the bracket and pass on through holes drilled into the
>mast,
>> which also have a slight thread.) I drilled new holes into the mast at
>the
>> new location 7 inches up and tried to cut new threads in the ruined
>hole
>> in
>> the bracket, but failed. (My threading tool broke off in the hole. Did
>I
>> mention I'm not real handy?) Next, I ruined another hole when a second
>> bolt
>> got jammed and the head stripped, and I had to drill IT out. (I
>remained
>> remarkably cool through all of this.)
>> 
>> So let's summarize: I now have two working bolts out of four holding
>the
>> connecting bracket to the mast at the new location. The good news is
>the
>> two working bolts are the topmost and bottommost bolts. And the
>connection
>> set-up consists of an outer bracket through which the bolts pass and
>an
>> inner bracket with threads that sits in the sail track. When the bolts
>are
>> tightened the two brackets are pressed together pinching against the
>lip
>> of
>> the sail track. The fact that the bolts pass on through both brackets
>into
>> the mast itself also gives added adhesion, at least as far as vertical
>> movement is concerned.
>> 
>> SO MY QUESTION IS.... am I screwed having only two bolts holding the
>> gooseneck connection brackets to the mast? Isn't most of the pressure
>at
>> that point vertical pressure? If so, it seems that two bolts might be
>> sufficient. If not, and if I need to have four bolts securing it, it
>seems
>> that my options are: 1) re-drilling  and re-threading the two bad
>holes
>> (remember my track record on that is not good), or getting a new inner
>> connecting bracket (the one that goes inside the track, with threads).
>If
>> that's what I must do, does anyone know where I can get one? (Mine is
>an
>> 89
>> C27 Tall Rig).
>> 
>> Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any helpful suggestions anyone
>> might care to offer.
>> 
>> 
>> Jeff Sheler
>> s/v Windsome
>> C27TR #6594
>> Hampton, VA
>
>



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