Mast Post Replacement

Hi,

New here as I just picked up a Hobie 20... One of the first projects for this boat, beside cleaning the years of dirt off of it, it to replace the mast post as the one on there is a little bent.

Looking this over and at the part diagram, this looks to be a little involved... few questions:

Can this be done with the beam still n the boat? Or will the beam need to come off..
What is the best way to get to the internal tension nut.. I am thinking a wobble with a socket extender may get me the angle I need.

Thanks... as I rehab this boat I am sure there will be many more questions.

John

Your biggest challenge will be dealing with corrosion if the boat has been sailed in salt water (and sometimes even with fresh water).

Loosen the dolphin striker rod nuts and then loosen the nuts on the top and bottom of the post and see if the post will move up and down freely. There is an aluminum compression sleeve which slips over the post and will corrode and seize onto the post. Because of the way the holes in the crossbar are setup, the only way to get the post out if this happens is to either cut off the bottom nut, or cut the entire post. Since you're replacing the post, this may not be too big of a deal. Be sure to order a replacement compression sleeve when you order the new post and coat everything with Tef-Gel when re-installing.

You may also run into issues if you have to remove the crossbar from the boat because again, this is a case where there are stainless steel bolts threading into aluminum and corrosion could become a big problem.

sm

Hey SRM,

Thanks for the reply.... the good news is I was able to get the beam off with our stripping any of the aluminum backing plates that holds the beam to the hull...

The bad news is that the mast post is welded to the compression sleeve and this is going to take little longer that what I had anticipated to get out..

Regarding the rod nuts, is this going to require taking out the inboard bolt compression sleeve?

John

It's been too long since I've looked inside a H20 crossbar to answer that question with any certainty. From what I recall, those nuts were very difficult to aceess and I don't think I ever adjusted them. My recollection was that you would likely need a long extension and probably a universal on your socket wrench. Not sure if the compression sleeve for the crossbar bolt would also need to be removed.

sm