Yes, drill a hole at one end (probably the bottom end), then tap it and set
a screw in the track. Align the track and drill another hole about four hole
spaces up the track, remove the track, tap that hole, put the track back on
with both screws, skip up about another four holes and do the whole process
all over again, repeat as necessary to the top of the track. When those are
set, then you can drill and tap the remaining holes all in one go (we drill
and tap those with the track in place so the bolts will be centered in the
holes). When you set the screws in for the last time, coat them with
Lanacote or similar to keep the stainless bolts from corroding the aluminum
mast. We also put gas pipe wrap (like wide, thick electrician's tape,
available at Home Depot for about $4) between the track and the mast, helps
keep it from scratching the mast. You can trim the wrap with scissors or box
cutters.
Length? Start about three or four feet up from the deck, depending on where
the bottom of your sail is. If you want to keep the pole on the mast, the
track should be at least three or four inches longer than the pole from
wherever the pole starts - either from a deck fitting or from a bottom car
on the track. The whole process is not hard, takes a couple of hours.
Aluminum drills and taps pretty easily. According to an orthopedic surgeaon
friend of ours, it "drills just like bone".

Michael & Elizabeth
S/V Cambria
La Paz, Baja, Mexico

On 2/7/07, Cindy Ballreich <cindy@ballreich.net> wrote:
>
> Hi gang!
>
> Simple questions (probably complex answers)
>
> How does one mount a whisker pole "T" track on the front of an aluminum
> mast? I know you have to drill a bunch of holes. Will they weaken the
> mast? Do they have to be tapped? How long should the track be?
>
> This seems like something that we should be able to do ourselves without
> a rigger.
>
> Cindy
> s/v Mandisa
> Baba 30
>
>
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>

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Received on Wed Feb 7 20:50:21 2007