Sunday 21 November 2010

Missing gooseneck track on mast...UPDATED

When I got my boat and had a good look at the various bits that came with it I never once thought about the gooseneck fitting on the mast.  I was cleaning the mast the other day and thought now how on earth will the boom fit on the mast. 


The boom has a fitting that would seem to go onto a 1" T track.  On the mast there is a section 15" long where a track should have been fitted but no track.  I have scoured the internet and found lots of places that sell track but I did not want a metre of it and it is quite expensive so I set about making my own.

This is the back of the mast where the track should have been.  The three holes in the middle are larger than the top and bottom ones and there did not appear to be any thread on them.  The top and bottom holes looked as though self tapping screws had been used.






I have a piece of aluminium the right thickness and cut a piece 1" wide by 15" long.  I filed the edges and finished them on my belt sander making sure the track fitted nicely through the boom fitting.  I then made a template of the holes on the mast so I could locate them when I drilled through the track. 

Now I was going to cut a similar piece of aluminium about 1/2" wide to go under the forst piece making my T section but then hit on the idea of using some thick aluminium tubing as a spacer where each bolt went through to bolt the track to the mast.  I think this will work quite well but time will tell.  If there is too much pressure on the track then it may bend as it does not have the rigidity of proper T track.




 I have drilled the track and tapped the holes in the mast as seen above, to take 5mm countersunk bolts and I will put a stopper at the bottom to stop the gooseneck slider coming off the track.  I may want to pull the boom off the top of the track so I will leave that.

I will amend this posting once I have fitted on the mast.  Another possible drawback is that the aluminium is not annodised so corrosion may be a problem,  We will just have to see.  At least it didn't cost me anything ;o)

Well, here is the new track on the mast and I think it looks pretty good if I say so myself.  Proof of the pudding will be trying it when the boat is afloat and the main under load.


I also replaced some horrible steel screws holding a nylon cleat on the mast.


Anyone recognise this?



Well it is the handle from the ball head toilet I ripped out of the boat.  I removed all the stainless steel nuts and bolts and anything I thought may be of use.  Low and behold I bent it into a handle shape and ground the end square to fit nicely into my furling gear.  It turns a treat and will be useful until I fit slab reefing to my boat which will be for another year and another mainsail I guess.


9 comments:

  1. Nice work! That gooseneck fitting looks exactly the same as "Papillon's" especially the little wingnut - probably not surprising given the similar age and provenance.. if you need a photo for comparison I can get one, but it looks like you have it nailed nicely..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Steve, I will let you know how it goes.

    Regards,

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks top notch, there's a real sense of acheivment when you find a solution that doesn't involve just giving someone else the money to sort it for you.
    I like the recycle furling crank.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I reckon that's exactly the same kit as on the Fantasie.. in all respects - same furler system, mastrack and gooseneck... I reckon the whole rig is probably the same!

    Ditto Phil's comment on the handle - those things go for about £26 each new.....!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Steve, I expect you are right, it looks exactly the same as I had on my Silhouette too but perhaps the actual height of the rig may be different?

    I should start making handles obviously!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello-
    This is nothing to do with the gooseneck, but I was reading your older entries and I thought you might be able to use the technique outlined here for the windows:
    http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance-articles/33774-surface-mounted-ports.html

    I'm planning to do something similar for the Hurley 18 I'm working on. Don Casey outlines a similar approach in his book This Old Boat.

    Good luck! I'm really enjoying the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Emily,

    Thanks for your comments and the link was very interesting. At the moment I am thinking that I will make an inner and outer ring from some 3mm stainless steel I have. I will get it laser cut to a template and then drilled. The stainless can be polished and I will use inter screws with the plexiglass or perspex sitting in the sandwich between the inner and outer ring. However, I may change my mind, I have already from my original idea. I am also trying to reduce costs as the boat only cost me £200. That said, I only want to do this job once so better to spend a little to get a better, long lasting finish. More later when the weather gets better.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  8. C'mon Andy - how's the boat coming along...?? :o))

    ReplyDelete
  9. yeah hows the boat coming along ??

    ReplyDelete