Hi,
I haven't posted this yet but I snapped my strut off the boat last summer. It was blowing hard, we were trying to get a jib up to sail jib only and the middle of the sheet went overboard unnoticed and wrapped around the shaft, the engine stopped but not before it snapped the strut off.
The strut is made of fiberglass and I think mine had been repaired by a previous owner. It left the bolts in place so not a drop of water entered the boat.
The real short story is after some false starts, Jorge Borges of International Marine Composites, Inc in Bristol, RI recommended I have it fabricated out of stainless steel, so he introduced me to Chuck ant Temples Machine, right up the street and, using the old one to gauge the pitch and everything, he made me a very expensive ($1,800) stainless steel strut that is an absolute masterpiece, almost belonged on my mantel or something. The bolt holes didn't line up but the flange (?) was about the right size and slightly curved. And the yard installed it pretty easily.
I could probably hang from this with all my weight and it wouldn't move...
I bought the bearing at Defender and delivered it to them...
The other option was a bronze adjustable unit where you cut a hole in the boat, and once it's adjusted, secure it in some fashion, then fiberglass it all in. My fuel tank along with a plywood ridge was really in the way for that, but it could have been done... that was from Prue Foundry.
Dan Stone
Triple Play #9