Among other things that got broken or loose on the trip across the atlantic, I found that the mast was very subtly rotated towards the port side when I arrived in the Azores. I looked at the mast step and it looks like the L bracket that holds it in place has gotten bent. This probably happened during the storm where my vang mast attachment got loose and pushed off to the side, causing a twisting force. I cant get these bolts off to replace the bracket or bend it back into place. Has this happened to anyone else? Any thoughts?
Are the bolts spinning? Or can you simply not apply sufficient force to remove them? ( meaning: you’re afraid that you’ll just torque the head off or munge the bolt head so badly nothing will remove it. ) I would apply a penetrating oil such as PB Blaster and wait a few days. If they’re spinning, though, you’ll have to unstep the mast which means either loosening the bottom bolt or cutting the L angle and replacing it.
Unfortunately it spins but does not come off - yep thats what i was thinking! Im going to put 2 or 3 new L brackets to give it a bit more strength i think
Yes, it has happened to me (F32 Hoyt). My mast rotated about 5° from an uncontrolled gybe.
The bolts on the mast have nuts behind them. You have to unstep the mast to undo them. The one on the floor has a nut under the floor. You may be able to get a wrench on that one.
Instead of additional L-brackets I suggest three lagbolts into the tophat that the mast sits on. It’s one bolt instead of three and it eliminates the torque across the L-bracket.