replace the mast footing

[Minnow]

Hello... my wife and I were given a CP16 as a gift from her grandparents.  As far as I can tell, it is a 1981 boat.  It had sat for a while and needed some help, but we sailed it twice this week of the coast of Southern Maine.  We had a great time and the boat performed great, even in 6-8 foot swells.  The problem is that while I was putting the mast down to trailer it home, the footing bracket screws pulled out.  I may have been at fault for letting the mast lean too far to one side ( I'm new to trailer boats), but now I need help.  I have found lot's of great information just by reading other peoples questions and answers on the site, but did not see anything about this.  I am curious why these screws would not be through bolts.  Any help or ideas would be appreciated.  Can I drill the screw holes through and replace them with through bolts?  Do I need to reinforce the area they screw into?  We love the boat and hope I didn't completely ruin it.  Thanks ahead of time.  -Jon & Amy in Southern Maine

[Gil Weiss]

Wow, six to eight foot swells! Great report!

Re the mast bracket screws, you DO NOT want to replace them with bolts! If your mishap had happened to a bracket bolted through the cabin top you might now have a big hole in your cabin! The screws allow the bracket to detach with minmal damage.

You need to inspect the area where the screws ripped out to make sure the core material is OK - not any water damage or other decay. Assuming all is well I would suggest filling the holes with epoxy, redrilling them and reattaching the mast bracket with the original size screws.

Happy sailing this great boat . . .

[Minnow]

Thanks, I guess that makes sense.  The area around the screw holes looks sound.  I will try your suggestion.  I have read a lot of your answers on the site and found them very useful. 

[Gil Weiss]

Thank you for the kind comment! I am glad the area around the screw holes is sound as that will make the repair easy. If the holes are not too enlarged just give them a heavy coating of expoxy. If you do need to fill the hole completey and then redrill you might consider mixing some saw dust in with the expoxy. Bottom line is to get the screws to snug up well.

[Craig Weis]

Skip here, I agree no need to use bolts...for some reason the mast and tabernacle have 'worked' the screws loose. Never fear about this. If I'm correct our Com-Pacs have ZERO core, as in balsa wood, or Airmax, or whatever. Just good old solid resign and that can be filled simply by any number of very good polyester resins. Plexus or Marine-Tex [now on sale during the 4th of July sale at West Marine] comes to mind. So fill the holes and drill a small pilot hole for the screws and put them back down.

[fafnir]

I would recommend drilling the hole out to a larger size then required and then filling with thickened epoxy and then re-drilling.  If you just fill the existing hole it doesn't work as well. Also this method will help prevent the wood core from rotting out.
--Chad

[Minnow]

    I just got a chance to start the project tonight.  I drilled out the holes to a larger size and filled with epoxy.  I will let it dry overnight.  Does anyone have any thoughts about moving the bracket back 3/4"-1" so I can drill fresh holes instead of redrilling in the new epoxy?  Would this help? or will the new epoxy be just as strong as the "fresh" fiberglass?  How would this change the way the boat sails?

[Paul]

Did you thicken the epoxy with any additives?  Colloidal silica, for instance?  Either way, drilling into the epoxy filled areas is still a better choice than moving the tabernacle.  The epoxy will be strong enough.

Yes, it would probably change the way the boat sails a little.  But, the geometry of the standing rigging may change.  By how much and for the worse?  I don't know.  Probably not worth the risk.

Good luck.

[Minnow]

Thanks, Ill stick with the original plan. 

[Minnow]

The fix worked great...better than it was before "the incident". I drilled out the holes slightly bigger,  filled the holes with epoxy ( I used a self contained tube that fits in a standard caulking gun.  As you squeeze, the two sides mix in the applicator tip and it comes out ready to use.  It was more expensive than other products but it was very easy to use and cut down on prep/cleanup time.  Plus, you can reseal the tube), let it sit for about 36 hours, predrilled the holes, filled holes with silicone, reinstalled the bracket and screwed it in by hand.  I recommend hand tightening the screws because it would be easy to overtighten with a drill.  We sailed all day Thursday.  Love the boat.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE GREAT ADVICE!