Taking up a notch in repairs - take two

Thanks to the people out there that took the time to email me about our plan for repairing the damage to C'est la Vie's mast in my August 10th post.  After digesting the additional perspectives I went to speak with Randy at Handcock & Grandsons.  Randy felt confident that welding a sleeve on the exterior of the mast at the wear point and along the base is a viable solution.  He requested a template of the mast so that he can fabricate the sleeve in his shop. The sleeve will be cut into two halves.  The halves will be welded onto the mast. I went out this afternoon and created a cardboard template.

The base of the mast is cut on an angle so the job was a bit more complicated that simply placing the cardboard on the mast and drawing an outline.  I outlined the sides and radius at the bow; then cut this section of the template away.  This allowed me to bring the template into a plane perpendicular with the mast section.  I then outlined the stern radius.  The damage - or what I've heard a few folks refer to as "aluminum rot" - along the base is evident in the image above.  This area will also receive an  external sleeve.

I plan to clean up and refinish the existing mast step.  Below are two images of the portion of the mast step that fits inside the mast.