Chrysler Sailors Forum

In working over the C22 I bought last fall and have not yet sailed I found a crack in the fiberglass around the mast base/step. Crack runs from the starboard aft corner where the base meets the cabin roof, vertically to the top corner of the step, then horizontally forward just under the metal "hook" toward the top front starboard corner, and then down and around the corner to the front. So, all of the starboard side of the base has a crack. I've sanded off all paint down to fiberglass and intend to clean out the crack with a dremmel tool to see how deep it runs.

Questions: What is the structural composition of the mast base? I'm thinking the fiberglass around this base is not a key part of the structural strength and is only to keep water out? Therefore repair needs to only address sealing the crack? Or, do I need to create do reinforcing? Any help, ideas welcome. thanks

Assuming the C26 and C22 are similar, under the actual plate is a piece of wood for the plate the screw into, and some glass too..seems this area on the boats are always cracked on the surface but if the cracks allowed water to get in there, the wood could be compromised

A thread with links to pics that may help you :

http://www.chryslersailors.com/discussi ... tep+repair

thank you, thank you, thank you for the links to great information. Mine is a smaller crack than those shown and had been sealed with paint so I don't suspect any serious water intrusion or rot. The metal "hook" was very secure and didn't move. Screws were secure and came out with no trace of moisture or rot. Based on the diagram of original construction I'm thinking of putting it back together with slightly longer screws and plan to seal if with an epoxy putty for cracks I got at West Marine after I clean out the paint. I'll keep an eye on it.

opened up the crack with a Dremmel today. No evidence of any rot. Appears to have been sealed with paint soon after crack. Probably a mast stepping mishap. Going to seal it up with some marine epoxy putty mix for crack repair.