Well so far, so bad on the cracked fairlead collar situation.
Mike Quill is out of town until May 10th, but his office manager has contacted him. He suggests cutting off the broken bolt flange and having a stainless strap built to replace it. The problem I see with that is the removing the flange entirely will eliminate the support for the part of the ring that holds all of the blocks.
The surveyor who missed this contacted a specialty machine shop about having it welded. The guy said he could do it, but it would only work if he knew the alloy. Does anyone know the aluminum (aluminium!) alloy used in casting these fairlead collars?
There are no drawings or specifications on the association website, but surely they must exist somewhere. Does anyone know where I might find them?
If I have to take this one off to get repaired or a custom one made, I think I will look into getting it laser scanned. Then I, or anyone else who needs one in the future, could get a CNC copy made.
Any other suggestions on how to proceed?
How unsafe is it to sail the boat with this crack? I have no idea how long it has been there or if it is growing. I have owned the boat for over a month and still have not sailed her. (But then this whole boat buying experience has gone like this.)
If you look closely where the red arrow is pointing, you can see that there is a stressed zone arcing around the lower nut. And you’ll see that the lower corners of the bolting flange are pulled together while the top of that slot is not. I think this stress was original sin during the construction of the boat and I suspect that the crack has grown gradually. Right now it is possible that all stress has been relieved and that it is stable. I just don’t know and it sure doesn’t look good.
I don’t know the aluminum alloy, and don’t know offhand who other than Mike Quill might.
There are no shop drawings for the N33s, but there are shop drawings for the mast collars for N22s, N26s, and N30s. The drawings are all entitled, “Spar Fairlead Collar”. The most recent of these is the one titled, “N30 Spar Fairlead Collar 19840705 Rev 19870212.pdf”. The drawings appear virtually the same except for scaling to the diameter of the mast for their specific model. Thus, I’m pretty sure that you could follow those drawings to get one built for your boat. It might just entail giving a metal shop the Nonsuch 30 drawing and the diameter for your N33 mast (which could be taken off the spar fairlead collar that you’ve got).
I also don’t know enough to advise pro or con regarding sailing with the crack.
As another alternative: I wonder if it’s possible to have a machine shop fabricate a pair of semi-circular stainless straps that pair together to form a collar, with plates welded on for the halyard fairlead(s) and rings or straps welded on for attaching the other fairlead blocks. I got this idea from looking at the picture Ernie Abugov posted of his reef tack set up (in the seventh post counting from the start of this thread), which I’m reposting here with a thin red arrow pointing at the fixture I’m referring to:
An outfit familiar with Nonsuch masts, and which also builds mast collars, is Klacko Spars (https://klackospars.com/, 905.825.0015). They might be able to advise you on this.
Brian
“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”
I wish you well on cracking this case and shedding some light upon it.
You look well on your way to doing just that.
Brian
Boat-less in New England
Bob is spot on about Klacko. They have worked very closely with Mike Quill and many Nonsuch owners (and I have a funny hunch that they MAY have been involved in fabricated many original masts, booms, collars, etc. for our boats).
I would call them ASAP and give them the whole story. I am certain that they can help. Your photos are pretty clear and feel free to use the photo that I provided.
The collar is two pieces, correct?
You only need the port half, correct?
Can the existing port half be used as a pattern for a green sand casting?
Find an aluminum foundry and ask.
Many Nonsuch 33s have stainless steel tubing “walkers” fastened to the deck rather than the aluminum collar that you and I have. Klacko once quoted one for me. I did not buy it.
Perhaps one of our other 33 owners can send you a photo and or measurements of the “walker” device.
I read Ron’s post and the link to MuggyWeld with interest.
Don rightly points out that it says that Super Alloy 1 would not be appropriate to Brian’s situation.
I did notice that further down on the web page it describes “Super Alloy 5” as the right thing to use. Specifically, they say that, "Super Alloy 1 cannot be used to repair … cast aluminum, large aluminum masses… Super Alloy 5 and an oxyacetylene torch are required for these applications. "
That said, I don’t know anything about the company or product, so am not taking a position pro or con on it. Just reporting what they say.
If I get it welded, I will have it professionally done by an expert. He says he will contact a supplier in LA who will recommend the correct rod for the alloy. Mike Quill says the alloy is alumag 35.
The paint mark is a good idea! Or maybe a sharpie pen mark. We’re going to go see if we can sail this thing tomorrow. I’ll try and get it marked before we go out.
Thanks for the alloy. I was told ALMAG 35, but that was relayed through an intermediary. I bet it was really ALMAG 535 if that’s what it says on your drawings. I wish there were casting drawings available for the 33. Do you know where yours came from?
