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Literally 3 days ago, I noticed a small crack running the entire length of the compression post for my 38' DE Cutter, "Loggerhead." The crack is barely wide enough to insert the blade of a sharp knife, but I suspect it will widen of course. Loggerhead is 30years old and had significant deck core root when purchased in Sept 2009-have not even started that project yet. I am leaning toward replacing the 4"x6" wooden compression post with a stainless steel post to help prevent this from happening again and to provide some additional support to the deck.
Does anyone have any experience with replacing a compression post? I am certain I have to cut out the head's sole to gain access to the base of the post. Is this something I need to leave up the yard to fix? How/where does one go about finding a replacement post? Any suggestions are welcome.
thank you
Lance
S/V "Loggerhead" DE38
Charleston, SC
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Lance,
I believe that the compression post on our boats is a hollow box beam made of mahagonay or teak. Basically just 4 planks on the four sides to create a hollow post. Wiring from the mast runs down the inside. Note the articles that mention making shure the hole on deck that the wires come through needs to be well sealed so water doesnt run down the wires into the compression post. Also that if it does it needs to be able to drain out the bottom and not stand there. Replacing it with a stainless post would be nice however I think it also acts as the corner to the head compartment. My boat has a big hole cut in the floor pan of the shower drain in the head. It then had a large fiberglass plate screwed back down over the hole and sealed with silicone. I am assuming it was put there to access the base of the compression post for wireing etc… I haven't taken it out to check yet though. The floor hatch in Valkyr's vberth is big enough that with some contortion you should be able to get down in there and see the front of the forward water tank and maybe the compression post.
Here are a few links to places on the forum and website that mention compression posts.
http://downeasteryachts.com/archives/901
http://downeasteryachts.com/th.....greg-smith
You already posted on this topic Lance. Don't know if you read all the posts but a couple mentioned the compression post.
http://downeasteryachts.com/fo.....m/it-leaks
Jason of Bodhran at http://www.jasonrose.com just did some work to his compression post. I will be posting his post that mentions that in a few days/weeks.. forget when it is scheaduled to show up. However there wasn't much detail. I went ahead and commented on his site letting him know we had some people here interested in what he did with his compression post. hopefully he will share them here for everyone.
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Thank you Scott, I appreciate the advice/suggestions and the links. Obviously, I have much "studying" to do before tackling this project. I have heard suggestions ranging from through-bolting the post, to placing a jack up and inside the hollow compression post, to buying a wooden post normally used on porches of homes, to placing the stainless steel post. At present, I am still in favor of the ss post due to the fact that it won't rot and it should provide more support for the deck/mast. If the compression post is hollow, I am thinking that I could leave the back portion of the post in tact to continue serving as walls for the head. And I could "box in" the saloon side of the post to preserve the "asthetics" of the saloon.
I was surfing around the web and found http://www.newjsi.com/spars.as.....nAodClE0zw. I may contact them or a similar site to see if they can help me. Anyone know of any similar sites that may be able to fabricate a new post for me?
Thanks as always.
Lance
S/V "Loggerhead" DE38
Charleston, SC
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Lance,
I would check a local welding shop for a price on a straight thick wall stainless tube cut to your needed length with stainless plates welded on the base and top as well. You might get a much better price than a marine yard or store.
scott
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So I don't know how it is on the 38, but the compression post on my DE32 seems to be solid. I don't have any joints and the wiring is run down behind a separate board screwed into the post inside the head. The frame above the head door also seems to support the mast a bit and I'd noticed before I took off cruising that if I tightened my rigging to the appropriate tensions that my head door would get very tight. Originally I just planed off the top of the door and problem solved. 4 years and 1000s of sea miles later I had a 3/8" depression around the mast step. I was worried that the compression post had subsided. It turns out that they still used the conolite core under the mast and that it had pretty much disintegrated. My solution was to pull the mast, jack up the deck from inside the head with a floor jack and add a 1/2" stainless bracket to the top of the compression post. So far so good. I've got the rig back together, but am in full on maintenance mode here in New Zealand and haven't been out sailing yet. At least when it rains, I don't have a big puddle around the mast any more and my head door opens and closes freely.
So to get back to your original post, if the 38 is like the 32, the mast step has 2 carriage bolts that go through the deck and into the compression post. The compression post is then screwed from the underside into the deck with 2 screws per side. Once these screws were out, the deck easily jacked up off the compression post and with a little work I could have removed it. I hope that that helps. At one time I was thinking about replacing my post with a bit of square aluminum with a tab welded on to screw into the bulkhead between the head and the saloon and flat plates at the top and bottom. A stainless post would be nice, but aluminum would probably be plenty strong and something square to replace the current square post would be easiest to fabricate.
This is the new bracket I had made up. You can see where the wiring comes through just aft of the compression post. The bracket actually extends another 3 inches beyond what you can see, but I had to notch it to accept the wiring bundle.
Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions,
Jason
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Very interesting. I thought I had heard that the compression post on one of the 38's was a hollow box section. But yours is solid. I would be willing to bet that if both accounts are true that one of them is maybe a mod that a prior owner has made.
I haven't inspected Valkyrs compression post in detail. I did inspect for compression of the deck and there is none. The head door does exhibit some stickyness due to being tight at the top side of the door. However I'm not sure how much of that is due to warpage of the hull due to rig compression and how much is due to the door having fallen apart at the joints and being glued back together with gorilla glue andd not getting aligned perfectly in the re-glue job. I think it is more glue job than hull warpage.
Jason,
I like your aluminum cap to the compression post. Did you try to fill/seal the core there with any epoxy as well?
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Thank you Jason and Scott.
After discussing this project with several around the marina, I have figured out that this "do-it-yourselfer" needs to hire a professional on this one. In the next few days, I will be contacting a few yards to see who can do it, when they can do it, and for how much. More than likely, I will have them either fabricate an aluminum post or cut an existing mast of the same diameter to serve as a compression post. Today is my first day off since I noticed the crack and, as luck would have it, I am fighting a cold. So, Loggerhead will be tied to the dock for a while, that's a given, and as time and health improve, I'll start contacting yards and take the next step.
I'll be sure to keep you all posted.....
Lance
DE 38 Loggerhead
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With our foam core decks, my normal procedure is to drill a hold through the top of the deck and the core at least 3 times the diameter of the one I need and then fill it with epoxy before going back and drilling the actual hole all the way through. I've had some pretty bad delam problems on Bodhran and am no stranger to drilling tons of holes and filling them with epoxy, but with this one, there were already holes all the way through the deck and into the compression post that I couldn't really seal from the bottom and I didn't want to epoxy the compression post in place with my run-off. It would have been nice to fill it, but I'm hoping that the foam has pretty much compressed as much as it can and my bracket from the bottom will keep the deck slightly proud.
Jason
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Loggerhead said: "I am certain I have to cut out the head's sole to gain access to the base of the post."
After buying my DE38, I found a previous owner had cut a "trapdoor" in the head shower sump which gave me an excellent view of the "other" and lower compression post – the one between the keel and the sole. I was able to crawl through the hatch, in the forward cabin sole, aft along the keel for a close-up inspection and discovered, it was a rotted out 2×4. I was able to man-handle an auto jack down there and, with the rig carefully loosened, lift the cabin sole enough to remove and replace the rotten post. The new post is epoxied to the top of the keel. The upper compression post, to which you refer, appears to be in good standing.
Martin – DE38 Cutter s/v Eclipse
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Thank you Eclipse,
I also have the "trap-door" in the head sole's pan. Fortunately, I do not think I have a rot issue down there at the keel. I do realize that if water is getting in enough to crack the wood upon freezing, that I will probably have some rot down there soon if not already. Is there a pipe/post within the 4x6 wooden compression post? It appears from previous posts, that the DE32 may have a solid post and the DE38 may have a hollow post. I suspect, as does the boatyard that I met with today, that there is a pipe or post boxed in the 4x6 wooden post. If so, then this crack is merely cosmetic and something I can fix later. If no post exists, then I need to pull the cracked piece off and probably the piece facing the companionway (leaving the two pieces that make up the head's corner) and then have the yard either fabricate a pipe with plates top and bottom to secure to the keel and deck. Plan for the trip to the yard for the post repair and haul-out and bottom job is for the end of February. I'll update this post with pictures as I prepare for the yard by removing the head's ceiling and sole. Coincidently, this may also give reason to why none of my mast lights work. I am betting there is a bit of corrosion on the wire terminals that I believe are located either above or below the compression post.
Thanks again, will post pictures soon.
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does any one have any pictures of the compression post under the cabin sole. My post sits on an angle. It has been that way for a very long time. No rot, but there is a dip under the mast. Any advice would really help. Keith, Downeaster 32 Victoria bc Canada. Boats name is make & mend.
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