A strange title but please read on and you will understand.
I have regularly sailed on salt water venues and religiously washed the boat, sails and outside of the mast. Yesterday I did some work on the A and B rig mast to drop the lower band on the mast below deck level which entailed cutting 10mm off the base of each mast as well as modifying the gooseneck so it will fit in the reduced space. When I took the mast plug off ready to cut the 10mm off this is what I found.
In fact there was another 1.5 inches of crystallised salt above the plug in the base of the tube. Thankfully the inside of the mast is in good shape and shows no sign of corrosion so I think I have got away with it.
The message is clear, after sailing on salt water, rinse the inside of the mast with fresh water. I am sure I read that somewhere but it failed to sink in.
To reduce its size, I modified the Sailsetc ball bearing gooseneck as follows. You can break the gooseneck into its component parts. I cut 8-10 mm of the central aluminium extrusion and then lopped 5mm off each screw with a Dremel and reassembled. The result is a gooseneck that will fit in the 69mm gap between the deck measurement point and the top of the lower measurement band.
