TonyB 1 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 When I bought my Smith 30 (variation of a Easterly 30) a couple of months ago I knew it had some corrosion around the base of the compression post. I cleaned it up and gave it some serious poking and it looked like there was still plenty of wall thickness on the steel pipe. I painted some anti corrosion galvanised paint on and thought it all looked ok. On the recent trip from Opua down to Auckland we were off Whangarei Heads hard on the wind when a particularly strong gust laid the boat over and BANG! The rig shuddered hard and we got the sails down and motored into Urqurharts Bay. Strangely enough everything looked fine, including with an inspection aloft, but all the rigging had gone slack. At the time I thought maybe the baby stay shackle at the mast end had rotated and shaken the mast, but yesterday I found that the compression post has a fracture line about 2 mm wide around the full circumference. It must have dropped slightly as the mast step pad has compressed. The deck is glassed ply. Wondering what to do now. Can anyone recommend some ideas or the right people to give advice? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 interesting sure people with more experience will chime in until then google turns up other people using hydraulic jacks to push everything back into shape during similar replacements https://pearson30olvido.wordpress.com/restoration-and-updates/compression-post-replacement/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyB 1 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Photos attached: a couple of the compression post. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the fractured part as its under the floorboards and it was getting dark. Also a photo of the mast step showing it has compressed down. Used to be raised by about 4 - 5 cm above surrounding deck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Bugger! Sorry, this is a rig out repair. The deck is broken. So, rig out, cut out broken deck, rebuild to original lines, paint etc,replace compression post, restep mast. Sounds bad, but its not too hard. Ply is pretty easy to repair. Where is the boat now? I may know someone interested in the work if you don't want to diy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Sorry to hear it Tony. Keep in touch. I need some work done too and will DM Matt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,566 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 When you replace the post it has to be positioned perfectly or you get compression up one side of the mast. It will develop an s bend then break. Been there, done that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I remember my days sailing on SS34's. The ones I saw all had wooden compression posts. I guess trees are pretty good at handling the varying loads and might be more forgiving. Is that on option for Tony? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyB 1 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Ouch! Thought that might be the case. The boat is in the Tamaki River now, at the Panmure end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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