Rotator Arm Bolt

I spent the weekend getting my boat ready to go for the season. I noticed that there was what sounded like lots of water in the mast. I noticed it would dribble out of the hole in the mast for the rotator arm bolt when the top of the mast was raised.

Long story short I removed the rotator arm, the mast base, and the two foam plugs. About a half gallon of fresh water (I sail in salt water) came out. I'm not sure how it got in there and finding out is next weekends project. I did notice that the holes in the mast for the rotator arm bolt and sleeve have just started to corrode. They have not enlarged but I see the pitting and on the inside I can see the material is slightly thinner.

Should I bother drilling out the holes and putting in a larger OD sleeve or just clean it up and leave as is? I even thought about making the sleeve out of Monel to minimize the corrosion should I get it water logged again. Am I just being paranoid?

Thanks,

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

JUst changing the sleeve won't eliminate the electrolysis. The compression plates and rivets also cause this. I removed the foam and the backing plates on my mast as I felt they held water in at the rotater bolt. IMO the sleeve can't help but leak, the water soaks into the foam plug and the two sealed plates hold it there. I took the mast down to the lake and used the dock to submerge the mast and look for leaks, the only bubbles came from the sleeve area. My SX mast had serious corrosion so I also installed a sleeve inside the mast and riveted thru it for additional strenght. I think it was overkill as the diamonds are stressing it vertically or in essence are trying to pull the bolt up thru the extrusion. The area of mast below the diamonds is in compression and doesn't flex. Unless the rivets are found to be leaking I would leave them alone.

I don't have any plates around my rotator arm bolt. Just a through hole and a sleeve. Does a non-SX mast have compression plates?

The corrosion really isn't bad at all. It's just starting.

My plan is to put a new plug in and seal the mast above the rotator arm and put a drain plug in the mast base. I am assuming that the rotator arm bolt will leak no matter what.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

The compression plates were an upgrade option. My older mast has them as well. Never been inside a standard mast just the SX. Maybe the plates were used in in newer boats ie the SX.