New-to-me 26S, lots of questions

[ralphe]

I'm the proud new owner of a '93 26S, and I have quite a few questions!

Baby stays
I have a set of 6' long baby stays that came with the boat (not fitted). But they're too short to reach from the deck attachment points to the gin pole attachment point on the mast, hence the length of rope. I'm also not sure how to ensure good tension in the wires without stay adjusters / turnbuckles.

New longer stays, perhaps with a tensioning mechanism?
Keep the temporary 1' rope lengths, and use this to tension?
New attachment points on the mast 1' lower down?

Non-folding spreaders
I have spreaders that are supposed to fold, but one doesn't due to the nut in the way.
How are these supposed to be attached to avoid this?
Replace with fixed spreaders?


How to adjust roller furler tension
Am I missing something stupid... can't see a way to change the tension on the CDI furler, at least not without dismantling it?
If it's not possible, is it ok to only adjust the backstay?


Enlarged holes in mast base
Both the stepping hole and the trailering hole are oddly twin holes of slightly different diameter.
Is this a cause for concern?


Blocking lazarette from cabin
When people talk about sealing the laz off from the cabin prior to venting and storing fuel, is it these side gaps they mean? Do I need to worry about the bilge as well?


How much is too much leakage from the ballast valve?
There's a constant flow of water coming out on the ramp with the valve closed. Flow is notably more when the valve is opened, so it's doing something... Is this an issue? The pressure difference would be fairly low when sailing, even when healing?

Leaking pop top rivet
I'm getting a fair amount of rainwater into the cabin. At least some of it is coming from this rivet. Easiest way to fix?


Thanks very much!
Ralph

[WinSome]

Hi Ralph and congrats on your boat purchase.
I’ll try and answer some of your questions.
Baby Stays. Very useful if you can figure out where to attach them. Difficulty is keeping them tensioned as a constant sweet spot is needed. I didn’t figure it out yet. Be cautious about raising the mast. If any breeze, Helpful at first to have partner able to keep a line tensioned

Spreader. Get a file and round out where the nut is catching (or find shorter nut. OR Remove that spreader and rotate 180* as to let that gouged out end fold the spreader. So nice to have the spreaders fold
Furler - can be hard to get rigged, but normally it doesn’t adjust. I’d use a line and pull it down hard to get it pinned. FYI. The back stay can be adjusted but won’t slacken off your furler line

Mast holes. Mine had a slot which I figured caused issues raising the mast.

Cabin spaces to lazarette. Yes that’s them. Best plan of storing fuel in lazarette is to add vents and blower fan as per marine rules

Ballast leak. Get new seal from BWY. It’s a straight forward fix. But I’d wait until you have time. Sail if you still can.

Leaking pop top. I don’t know for sure -but research getting it there.

Enjoy your boat.

[Interim]

On my 26s, the baby stays don't connect to the gin pole attachment. They have their own attachment points. The gin pole attaches at the mast step.

I would also point out that they are loose. Their function is to keep the mast from falling to one side or the other when raising, it. They don't add anything once the mast is rigged.

--john

[Be Free]

I have an "X" so I can't say for sure but that "rivet" looks just like the plastic caps that cover access holes for hardware. If you are getting a leak there it could be coming from anywhere above it. It may just be coming out there because that is the first hole it could drip out of.

[Stickinthemud57]

On my 26s, the baby stays don't connect to the gin pole attachment. They have their own attachment points. The gin pole attaches at the mast step.

I would also point out that they are loose. Their function is to keep the mast from falling to one side or the other when raising, it. They don't add anything once the mast is rigged.

--john

To elaborate on previous comments:

The baby stays are for stabilizing the mast while raising. They should be removed for sailing so they don't become a trip hazard. The proper attachment points for the baby stays are at the top of page ten of the manual, which can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.macgregorsailors.com/resour ... Manual.pdf

The advice for making the spreaders foldable makes sense. I trailer mine a good deal and have not found their lack of foldability to be a problem.

I don't have roller furling, so no comment there.

I don't see any immediate cause for concern, as there does not appear to be any significant compromise to the integrity of the mast, nor do I see the possibility that it would fail to stay properly attached to the pulpit or the mast step.

I sealed off the cabin from the lazarette to cut down on odors in the cabin and it made a big difference. I started by cutting cardboard to match the odd contours of the areas under the gunwales. Once those matched reasonably well, I transferred the profiles to coroplast, which is a lightweight, rigid, easily cut plastic sheet commonly used by and available from sign-making shops. I secured it with metallic duct-sealing tape (the kind that you peel the backing off of before applying), and used that same tape to seal along the edges. I also installed vents from Blue Water Yachts - https://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/h001-1c0.htm

Quickest way to seal small cracks is with some sort of marine sealant. Choose one that does not take a week to set. Otherwise, a more permanent repair can be made use polyester resin.

[chipveres]

Following on Stickinthemud's comment about marine sealant, Loctite PLS 40 comes highly recommended. Probably available at Home Depot.
Chip V.

P.S. Welcome to the Mac family.