A fellow CS34 owner, Philip Maeise, has shared this information on repairing the base of his mast. Hopefully you will never need to do this, but it’s interesting to see the construction.
The CS boats are very well built but every once in a while you discover a cut corner that turns into a problem many years later (The aluminum mast base being put together from several pieces rather than one piece). Failure occurred due to water working it’s way thru the seams. Several riggers told me this was a cosmetic problem until I saw seepage coming out of the mast base.
It was interesting to see what was under the mast and how things are put together. Unlike you folks up north, in Annapolis we rarely take the rig down during winter storage unless some work is required on the spar or deck.
Used epoxy as a temporary repair, it started to fracture after six-weeks.
Removed the mast base.
And found the problem
There was a seam in the mounting plate and one of the mounting holes didn’t have a metal backing.
Also had an issue with an extra hole that was added to run a cable.
Annapolis Boat Service was contracted for the repair and a brand new G10 Mast Base-core was constructed with West System epoxy.
Final look after gelcoat and plate reattached.
She looks beautiful and clean again!
August 12, 2021 at 2:35 pm
I’ve got similar looking cracks along my mast base. Looks like I’m going to have to add this to the to-do list. Thanks for the share fellas.
Graham, CS34 Tropika #8231
Kingston, Ontario
August 12, 2021 at 4:40 pm
Sorry to hear that Graham. Looks like a scary fix but end result is beautiful and will definitely increase your confidence in heavy winds!
We have a bit of crazing on one corner that I’m keeping an eye on. No seepage!