Re: Stus-List Mast Step Rebuild C&C 35MK1
Been there, did that. First and foremost, try to establish the original elevation of the mast step support and measure it against a known reference You will need to rebuild to that elevation. I did not enlarge the bilge opening. I cut, scraped and otherwise removed all the old wood back to the shoulders of the bilge (where the hull turns downward.) An air chisel might help. Touche's mast step was rebuilt with solid glass in 2000. Here's how (with improvements to the method due to hindsight). Sand the shoulders of the bilge to expose "virgin" glass. Place a piece of PVC pipe in the bilge to act as a conduit for cables, etc. Make sure there is drainage under the pipe from the forward part of the boat. Make a forward and aft wall forms from cardboard, plastic, whatever. Smooth the bottom of the area (between the wall forms and above the PVC pipe with 3M Premium Filler or similar. Lay in layers of epoxy saturated roving until very close to the desired elevation. Can only put 2-4 layers at a time. More than that will result in inadequate heat rejection as the epoxy cures. Smooth the top of the layup with more putty. Fasten the step box to the block of glass. Pictures of the final product here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvsb3phTUV4S3lkQ00 Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 9:19 PM, Wolfgang Svec via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hello All, > > Ive been working on a c&c 35mk1 and yesterday found some rot in the mast > step board. The boat hasn’t been used for a while and some water has been > sitting in the bilge. It doesn’t look like there is good access even once > the mast is off and im wondering if anyone has tackled rebuilding their > mast step before in the 35’ - preferably with pictures :) > > Thanks. > wolf > ___ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - > use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > ___ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
Re: Stus-List Mast Step Rebuild C&C 35MK1
I did this repair on my boat. I took a circular saw to the cabin floor to cut a bigger opening to work in. It is now covered with teak and holly flooring. Take this advice before starting - make a jig and take photos to make SURE you get the mast step back in the exact same place and at the same height! If you end up higher, you can always saw a bit of mast off, but ending up lower is a bit more of a mess. Here was my order of operations: Mast out Cut floor Spend some quality time with a saw, hammer, and chisel getting all the rotten wood out. Analyze the mast step area. Find out the original design was really stupid. The boat has a flat shelf on either side of the bilge. The original design was a piece of wood spanning the bilge sump with a layer of fiberglass on top of it. The aluminum mast step was barely wider than the mast and was mounted on the wood/fiberglass over the bilge sump A *hole* was drilled through it all to drain water and make SURE there was a way for water to get into the wood. The whole assembly was like a bridge with support at the ends and weight in the center. As the wood rots the mast slowly sinks into the bilge. Next step was design the replacement. This was 21 years ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think I used two pieces of 3/4" marine plywood epoxied together. The mast step is welded onto a 1/2" (I think??) aluminum plate as wide as the entire wood mast step, NOT just a bit wider than the mast. The weight of the mast is distributed to the bilge shelf on either side of the boat so there is no force bending the wood. This has held up for over two decades now. I am sure I could do better if I was doing it today and YMMV Joe Della Barba Coquina C&C 35 MK I -Original Message- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Neil Gallagher via CnC-List Sent: Friday, April 13, 2018 12:30 AM To: Wolfgang Svec via CnC-List Cc: Neil Gallagher Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Stus-List Mast Step Rebuild C&C 35MK1 Hi Wolf, This is a pretty common problem on 35-1's. The original support for the step is about 4 or 5 layers of plywood spanning the bilge well, wrapped in a very thin layer of fiberglass. The glass cracks and the wood starts to rot and sag under the mast load. You're on to the issue: access under the cabin sole. Various owners have taken different approaches, but my method was to cut the old wood with a sawzall to get it out of opening. Putting something back in varies, some people use wood covered with epoxy, I used pieces of fiberglass board (from McMaster Carr) to build up layers and glassed over the whole thing. The trick is to shape and fit wide boards down through the narrower opening in the cabin sole. You're working down in a hole so it's a bit uncomfortable, but all doable with basic skills. Here's some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/0i3sVe9NIlmXT5kn2 Neil Gallagher Weatherly 35-1 Glen Cove, NY On 4/12/2018 10:19 PM, Wolfgang Svec via CnC-List wrote: > Hello All, > > Ive been working on a c&c 35mk1 and yesterday found some rot in the > mast step board. The boat hasn’t been used for a while and some water > has been sitting in the bilge. It doesn’t look like there is good > access even once the mast is off and im wondering if anyone has > tackled rebuilding their mast step before in the 35’ - preferably with > pictures :) > > Thanks. > wolf > ___ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray ___ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
Re: Stus-List Mast Step Rebuild C&C 35MK1
Hi Wolf, This is a pretty common problem on 35-1's. The original support for the step is about 4 or 5 layers of plywood spanning the bilge well, wrapped in a very thin layer of fiberglass. The glass cracks and the wood starts to rot and sag under the mast load. You're on to the issue: access under the cabin sole. Various owners have taken different approaches, but my method was to cut the old wood with a sawzall to get it out of opening. Putting something back in varies, some people use wood covered with epoxy, I used pieces of fiberglass board (from McMaster Carr) to build up layers and glassed over the whole thing. The trick is to shape and fit wide boards down through the narrower opening in the cabin sole. You're working down in a hole so it's a bit uncomfortable, but all doable with basic skills. Here's some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/0i3sVe9NIlmXT5kn2 Neil Gallagher Weatherly 35-1 Glen Cove, NY On 4/12/2018 10:19 PM, Wolfgang Svec via CnC-List wrote: Hello All, Ive been working on a c&c 35mk1 and yesterday found some rot in the mast step board. The boat hasn’t been used for a while and some water has been sitting in the bilge. It doesn’t look like there is good access even once the mast is off and im wondering if anyone has tackled rebuilding their mast step before in the 35’ - preferably with pictures :) Thanks. wolf ___ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
