FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAMPIAN 26

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I will be keeping an eye on the other Grampian Forums and adding here any interesting information regarding repair and maintenance from these other sites plus any information you want to provide on "fixes" you have made to your Grampian that others might find of interest. Please contact the Webmaster with any suggestions. 

  1. What is the length of the Shrouds on a Grampian 26?

  2. I want to redo my windows. Where can I get the grey gasket?

  3. How do I replace my Windows?

  4. How can I unstick my centreboard?

  5. Tightening Keel Bolts

  6. Rudder Problems

  7. More Rudder Questions

  8. Steel Cradle Dimensions

  9. How can I prevent Mast Compression?

  10. How do I step/unstep my mast if no crane available?

  11. How do I replace my bulkheads?

  12. How do I repair/replace a broken mast step hinge?

  13. Wiring Problems - Questions and Solutions

  14. Forestay Fitting Failure

  15. Replacing Floor Supports

 

 

  1. What is the length of the Shrouds on a Grampian 26?

Every boat is a little different and it is recommended that if you are replacing any of your shrouds, you take them off and send them to the person who is making the new ones. They can then get an exact measurement of your existing shrouds and cut the new ones accordingly. half an inch can make a big difference! (Back)

  1. I want to redo my windows. Where can I get the grey gasket?

The gray gasket can be obtained from Holland Marine Products (Back)

 

  1. How do I replace my windows?

See F.A.Q. on General F.A.Q. Page

  1. How can I unstick my centreboard?

Nothing I tried would unstick the centerboard. So I went the 'foolproof' way.
- First you have to be able to access the trunk. To that effect the keel is sitting on a wooden cradle that raises it above the bottom of the steel cradle. The wooden cradle is made of two rows of stacked 4"x6" separated by a 3" space. It is held together at the endsso has not to separate .It has 'windows' at various points to be able to put in a hand and reach the underside of the keel. The 3" space allows the centerboard to fall through it. Since the steel cradle is held by cement blocks I could manage to slip under the steel cradle and reach trough the wooden cradle's space up to the keel trunk.
- Second, I made a U shaped bracket out of thin steel tape ( the kind used to hold water pipe with holes in it ). I managed to wiggle this contraption so that it caught the end of the centerboard inside the trunk. This confirmed that there was enough space between the centerboard and the trunk at the end of the centerboard to wiggle a "U" bracket over the centerboard. This bracket could then be hooked to a cable and pulled at 90 degrees trough a pulley attached to a cross beam of the steel cradle

-In my case I first tried to pull the cable which was in fact a 1/2" sheet line with a ratchet capable of exerting a one ton force.

- This was not enough, the steel tape stretched, the line also and nothing moved.
- I then went the hard way and built a "U " bracket made out of heavier steel. This bracket could not pass at the end of the centerboard as there was not enough space between it and the trunk. To allow this bracket to 'snare' the centerboard I had to remove 1/2" at the end of the centerboard with a special long shaft air die grinder fitted with a 6" carbide burr.
- Then using 1/4" aluminum aircraft cable and heavy duty pulley and two 4 ton hydraulic jacks I was able to free the damn thing.

If you are lucky you may not have to resort to as much force as I did.

I was able to see from the marks on the board that there are some sort of bumps inside the trunk which dug inside the board near the end and on one side.

ThIs spring I will undertake the cleaning and I have built a special rig to 'ream" the inside of the trunk with the air tool fitted either with a wire brush or carbide burr. I do not know yet if it will work.

I will then paint the inside with POR-15

In the meantime I will repair the board which is a sandwich of fiberglass and steel and I will drill a hole in the steel at the leading hedge of the board so that in the future if it get stuck again I will be able to easily 'snare' the board.   (Courtesy "romarin11") (Back)

 

  1. Tightening Keel Bolts

 I spoke to Gill Bibby a few weeks ago on a survey.  (Gill was the production manager at Grampian.)  At the time he had suggested snugging the keelbolts.  He said on the G26 the keel bolts were 1" threaded rod and since the keel is cast iron, you can torque them all you want without the danger of pulling the threads in the keel.

A 1" thread has a nut 1-1/2" across.

Let's assume the threaded rod material used by Grampian corresponded to the SAE Grade 2 specification, the basic level of hardware store quality bolts.   A 1"-8 UNC thread will take a maximum torque of 300 ft-lbs, and give a clamping force of about 18,000 pounds in that joint.  (300 ft-lbs should be
about 400 N-m)

That is, fully torqued, it would take an 18,000 pound pull on each bolt before the hull-keel joint would start to open.  Less torque gives a proportionally smaller amount of load to cause the joint to separate, but you can see there's a lot of leeway here.

Personally, I'm going to suggest that 300 ft-lbs is a _lot_ of torque, and even a third of this will be plenty.  It's also a lot easier on the guy turning the wrench. (Thanks to Tim Nye in conversation with Gill Bibby) (Back)

 

  1. Rudder Problems

One thing I can mention is on wet rudders.  Gill said they produced the rudders (at least on the G26) with the stainless rudderpost that was drilled through with 1/2" holes.  They inserted 1/2" stainless rods that were bent into a curved shape, so you'd have a structure like fishbones. This was then encased in the rudder shells and filled with resin.

He didn't recommend cutting a wet rudder apart and rebuilding it.

There can be some space inside, and water can leak down the side of the rudderpost.  He suggested you store the rudder upside down in a warm place over the winter, to let any water drain and dry out.  Then put the rudder back right side up and build a dam around the rudderpost with masking tape.  Mix some slow setting epoxy (2-3 hours), pour it into the dam, and let it slowly seep into the rudder.  When it hardens, it fills the voids in the rudder, and hopefully, seals the gap around the rudderpost. (Thanks to Tim Nye in conversation with Gill Bibby)

Check http://www.geocities.com/jimmyschools/rudder for a good description of how Jimmy Schools fixed his rudder after the shaft was accidentally bent.

The following are comments received concerning Jimmy's bent rudder and his subsequent repairs:

"Let me say first that I am not an expert, so the following opinion could very well be wrong.

What stands out for me in the photo is the diameter of the shaft is considerably reduced just above the top of the rudder, where the bend is. We have a 1973 G26 that's been primarily in Lake Ontario and the NY Finger Lakes over its life, and there is no noticeable wear on the diameter of the shaft. You can see how much more wear is on your shaft at the bottom bearing than the top, and the rusty appearance, which makes me suspect that this shaft may have been going through a crevice corrosion process.

If this is the case, no doubt the metal of the shaft will have deteriorated where it enters the rudder (where most of the bending has occurred). So the shaft could be greatly weakened by corrosion, and further weakened by being bent so much. Bending it back would cause more damage to the shaft, and if the shaft didn't break then, there could be small cracks left that would grow over time until the rudder does separate. Of course, this would happen when the rudder is most heavily loaded, which is the worst time to lose it.

Personally, I'd want to open it up and redo any damaged material.

I'd also closely inspect the rudder tube and hull attachments for any damage. Bending a big (inch and three eighths?) stainless shaft like this takes a lot of force." (Tim Nye)

 

"I did bend my rudder shaft two years ago and was able to straighten by strapping the rudder down to an I beam (big boat trailer) and using a long pipe that fit over the shaft (6-7 foot pipe). I bent it back by hand but my shaft was only bent about 5-7 degrees. Yours is considerably worse. I would check with someone regarding whether it’s even wise to bend something back from that angle. There maybe some issue with metal fatigue." (Todd Dupuis)

I had a rudder incident, which caused me to have to create a rudder with no pattern to go by!!!   My rudder broke off and fell to the bottom about five miles out!

One of the pics is the new creation with my own size dreamed up from some research.

      

 The rudder dimensions pic is something sent to me by the       owner of a G 30.

Mine is a G26.  The new rudder handles the boat 200% better than the original.   Made completely of stainless steel 1/4 " plate with a 1" shaft.  A local guy who does prop reconditioning and shaft straightening did the work.  The shaft is what he called Aqua steel grade stainless.  And the plate is a grade sufficient to not rust in salt water.  I installed it myself while in the water.  A bit tricky but I have a great helper in my wife.   Your fabricator will be able to recreate the configuration you need at the top to reconnect to the tiller mounting gear.   I used a 1.5" brass spacer with a setscrew right at the deck surface to sit on top of the brass washer that lay on the deck.

Between the rudder blade and bottom of the boat I put in a large stainless washer as a protector from the blade to the hull.  If you end up sitting on bottom the blade shouldn't dig into the bottom.

Even though this has been an experimental project I feel it is a substantial long-term fix.  I will likely shave some of the bottom off the rudder in the future as I have discovered that the rudder remains the furthest protrusion bottom side.   I sail in places where water can get to 2' near shore and running a ground is a real possibility

For rudder protection I need to be about even with the keel.  I feel the handling will not be compromised if I take a little off.

Lastly  the estimate to have a boat yard do something for me was $2300.  I got all this done for $500 with me being the handyman project engineer. (Rick Zegel)

From Gill Bibby:

There were 2 different designs of this rudder:

"The shaft could be 3/4 down in the blade and bent aft, then fitted with tangs in which to hold it in place. The other way the rudders were made was to attach the shaft to a steel plate that is in the center of the rudder."

Well it certainly makes Grampian building look good again. The FRP rudder blade did not get damaged in the impact and I wonder if the the shaft would not have bent if it had not been worn so badly at the lower bearing point.

The filler in the rudder cavity is micro balloons, a powder filler mixed with Polyester resin, I would grind out most off the filler around the shaft location, leaving some location points for reference when replacing the shaft. Then make a fill of chopped strand matt and resin, half fill the cavity with this mix and then place the new shaft in place, fill the remainder of the cavity to the surface of the rudder skin. Let this harden. Grind off the surface until a slight dished area is achieved and then lay layers of fibre glass cloth and matt to replace the skin. This skin must overlap the onto the original skin some distance. Finally to prevent the patch from letting go, I would sand the surface of the rudder skin so that a wrap off fibre glass or two can be applied round the total rudder to bond to the original fibre glass surface.

 
The new shaft should be machined while it is straight, drill for the location pins, install the 1/2" pins and then bend the pins to the angle required. have the new shaft bent to the angle required. Note do not machine the worn section back into the shaft at the top of the rudder, (Dont Laugh, it happens that I have one hanging in my shop to demonstrate what not to do, it also was bent to match the old one.) The new shaft could be made from 306 or 312 Stainless Steel.

The best rudders are the earlier ones that were made from a stainless steel shaft that was bent aft within the rudder casing with two or three 1/2" rod tangs fitted into holes drilled into the shaft, they protruded aft like a fork. The outer rudder case was laid up in the mold Gel coat fiber and woven woven, the two halves were filled with micro fibers and resin paste, place in the shaft in one half and fit the other half on top, clamp to seal, leave to dry. open the mold and presto you have a rudder.(Thanks to Gill Bibby)  (Back)

 

  1. More Rudder Questions

            Question?  Where would  I get bearings for my rudder  shaft for my G26 and how
             do I get the old ones out?

            Suggestions:             

There were two designs used at different times in production.

I seem to recall that one was plastic bushings pressed into the rudder tube in the hull. In this case you can knock out the old bushings, measure them and the rudder shaft with a micrometer and check with a bearing distributor (I've had good luck with Canadian Bearings) to see if they can source an off-the-shelf replacement.If not, you need to find a machine shop that will machine replacement bushings for you.

The other design had "gun metal" bushings soldered into the ends of the rudder tube, which was a piece of copper pipe. This is what our boat has. The bad news is that to un-solder the bushings, you need to heat the pipe, and that will destroy the fiberglass that holds it in place.One option is to remove the old bushings by machining them out, for instance, with a file or die grinder and burr and a lot of patience, then press or glue in plastic bushings. Another option is to use an epoxy repair putty like JB Weld or Devcon putty to build up the inside diameter of the existing bushings, but you then have to come up with a way to bore the bushings to the right diameter for the rudder shaft.

I'm afraid that's not a very good answer. Hopefully someone has a better solution. (Tim Nye) Back

 

  1. Steel Cradle Dimensions 

Grampian 26 cradle dimensions. Base 60"x 120" Trough for keel starts 43" from bow and goes to 25" from the stern. Cross members at 52 " from bow and 36 from stern. Trough  is 8" wide.  Uprights are bow 40"tall from top of base,  cross member 18" from top. Stern 34" tall , cross member 10" from top.
These were taken from a folding steel cradle ( a common requirement for cradles in the Toronto area so they can be piled)
These cradles have adjustable pads. The pads should ideally have a range of 4" to  10 ". (Thanks to Hans Nita. Info on wooden cradle can be found in G26 owners manual.) (Back)

 

  1. How can I prevent Mast Compression? 

What is mast compression? Some boats have problems when their rigging is tight that the mast will press down on the cabin roof and it will be difficult to open and shut doors. This is especially noticeable if the boat is close hauled with a lot of downward pressure on the mast.

The previous owner of Patience came up with a great solution, (he was an ardent racer!). He installed two boards about 3 1/2" x 1" as beams on either side of the passage between the fore cabin and the main cabin on the cabin sides. He then installed two braces for each beam going either from the cabin sole or the seat. This provided great support directly under the mast. You can see photos of it here. He just recently told me that he also installed a longer piece of channel iron that the mast sits in that extends over both these beams. (I will get better photos this year)

This solution works great and I never have any mast compression even with a tight rig. (Back)

 

  1. How do I step/unstep my mast if no crane available?

Stepping/unstepping your mast using a crane is the easiest route but cranes are not always available. Here is one suggestion for unstepping your mast without a crane but with the help of your club mates. I am not sure if you work in reverse this will work for stepping but there are some great ideas to be found if you Google "stepping mast":

I drop my mast every year and the trick is to have a line attached to the head of the mast to help it down. I use a fore halyard, some use their fore stay.

Remove all rigging from the tabernacle so the swing of the step will not have anything to snag and break on. I release my forward shrouds and loosen my upper & aft shrouds but do not release them. They will help keep the mast from going sideways.

You should have about 4 other people to help that means you want at least 5 counting yourself. This makes it safer. I figure the mast weighs around 250 lbs. I didn't have enough help the first year and my mast fell on me breaking 2 ribs making my life miserable for the next couple of weeks and scaring the hell out of me.

One person using the fore line to ease the mast back, I hook it under a cleat on the dock to act as a break and I make the angle as much as my line will allow.

2 on the coach top to start the lean and steady it as it comes down.

2 in the cockpit to take the mast as it lands The fore line is taking a lot of the weight in the beginning and is a real help most of the way down. The people on the roof will be taking some weight before the other 2 in the cockpit can help. A couple of solid planks across the seat would help the cockpit crew to assist the 2 on the coach house sooner.

This system works well for me and about 50 other boats in our club.(Thanks to Brian Lumley for this) 

1) I had an 8' 2x4 that I cut V-notches into either end to make a gin-pole, with one end to rest against the mast, and the other for the rope/forestay. 10' or 12' would have worked better.

2) The lower shrouds were disconnected and the upper shroud turnbuckles loosened. The pivot bolt on the mast step was loosened.

3) The companion way hatch was closed and a big block of structural foam set down for the mast to rest on when it was horizontal.

4) Disconnected the forestay from the bow fitting and immediately inserted the mainsheet block and tackle, which had had the blocks pulled up tight against each other.

5) Slowly release line to the mainsheet.  A friend was on the cabin roof (another reason to close the hatch) to guide the mast straight back.

6) My wife held the notched 2x4 against the front of the mast and upwards to catch the forestay as the mast came down.  She then had to keep this 2x4 from leaning port or starboard as the lowering continued.

7) Kept feeding line until the mast was down.

 This happened when we just bought the boat and needed to ready it for trucking home.  The marina didn't have a mast crane of any sort, so we had to make do. 

This process worked, but in the future I'm going to modify my setup a little.  I found an article afterwards from Good Old Boat magazine (at http://www.boatus.com/goodoldboat/maststepping.htm) that describes a bridle arrangement that you can make up pretty easily.   

I had approximated this somewhat with my 2x4 gin-pole and a couple of helpers, but I wouldn't do it again that way.  My wife, bless her heart, was so concerned about everything else going on that she wasn't concentrating too hard on keeping the gin-pole from leaning sideways.  It's one of those situations where the farther it goes to one side, the more force there is in that direction.  It wouldn't have to go too far to overpower her and once she dropped it, the forestay would go slack and the mast would drop.  Using this bridle idea not only keeps the mast centered, but the gin-pole as well. 

You want to have the gin-pole at 90 degrees to the mast as you catch the forestay.  (In this article they use the jibsheet rather than the forestay, which may be a better idea.) This keeps the angle between the mast and forestay as large as possible, and keeps the load on the lines lower.  I forget the ratio on the mainsheet block and tackle, but the load on the line I was holding was pretty high.  Next time I think I'll extend the line back to the cockpit and run it around a winch drum to improve the control while lowering. 

So, it's do-able.  A little preparation and it should be easy.  (Tim)

I drop and raise the mast using a length of line attached to the jib halyard and around the mast winch. Works fine, especially if you can have somebody positioned about 6 to 10 feet above the boat to "catch" the mast on its way down. Once the mast gets that far down it gets difficult to handle using only the line and the winch. There is a place near the harbor where the sea wall is about that far above the water line and it works beautifully, two man job but not difficult.
My impression is that it doesn't put undue stress on the "shoe" at the bottom of the mast since the stress is pretty much consistent with the strong plane of the "shoe". The other idea I had when working out this system was to build a jack pole that you could put under the mast as it comes down to control the descent better. Something (my thinking was a 2 x4) with a U shaped bracket on one end that could be fitted around the mast once it got to that angle where the line is no longer able to control the descent. (M Reynolds)

See also Grampian Discovery 7.9 FAQ for another suggestion. (Back)

 

  1. How do I replace my bulkheads?

See FAQ General page

 

  1. How do I repair/replace a broken mast step hinge?

Question:  My mast step hinge is broke away from the mast step itself. Maybe somebody could give a idea where to find a new/used mast base step, and is it some something that will affect the security of the mast or is it for stepping purposes only.

Suggestions:  Ours broke off many years ago and we had a stainless shop fabricated a more robust unit, has been working ever since without any problems. (Donald Revis)

I broke my hinge (long story - stupid move) last year. I ground the flange - i.e. the remains of the old hinge plate - off the oval insert (the part that goes inside the mast extrusion itself). Then it was a simple matter to weld that piece onto a 1/4" aluminum plate, to the back of which I welded a piece of 1" aluminum rod, and bored a 5/16" hole in it (do this after welding) to receive the pivot bolt. I made the plate as short as I could, which vastly increases the torsion strength of the thing. Had to move the pivot point forward the same distance I shortened the plate. Shazzam! Works like hot damn. Just be careful to make sure the height of the pivot hole is correct, and that you radius the back of the plate so it will pivot without binding. Check that it pivots through the entire range of travel before you install it back on the mast. Also make sure you gusset the insert same way as the original.  Only downside to shortening it is that by increasing the strength of the hinge, if I do something stupid next time I lower the mast, I fear I'll rip or beak the channel itself. Good incentive to be careful!
 
I really don't think this part is subject to any great stresses once the mast is in place - certainly lateral loads are not an issue, as the step channel looks after that. Fore and aft loads are probably minimal too, due to friction with the step channel, considering the compression load from the shrouds and stays. I (briefly) considered raising the mast sans hinge, and drilling through the channel and mast extrusion for a couple of bolts. You'd have to make sure you had an insert inside the mast - the old hinge insert would do nicely, and you'd have to put some sort of spacer between the channel and the mast extrusion. It would probably work OK, so long as you didn't plan on raising and lowering the mast on a regular basis...
 
Forget finding a new or used one - seems like everybody and his dog who owns a G26 breaks this thing at some point in time. You smarties out there who haven't done it yet - your time will come! (Dave Barrie)

If you've got all the pieces they can be welded back together (provided you find a welder who's proficient at welding aluminum). In fact a welder should be able to fabricate any missing pieces, although the cost may be more than the casting, if it's available. Of course, getting the casting off the mast means removing the rivets.
They're 1/4" pop rivets, are very hard to find, and require a special two-handed rivet setting tool. Getting the complete mast to a welder, or a welder to the mast, is probably a challenge, too.
My understanding is that Klacko Spars (http://www.klackospars.com/) did a lot of the manufacturing of masts for Grampian, so they'd be a good place to start to see if this part is available. (Tim Nye) 

I think Klacko will have the part, and they are very willing to ship it. They did want to get the broken one to be sure they had the right new one. Mine was screwed into the bottom of the mast, with two screws on each side and one in front. Putting in the new one required drilling and tapping.
Klacko assumed that the new plate would be screwed in, not pop riveted. I think that is quite a bit easier than pop riveting.
The only caveat is that if the holes on the sides of the plate are not precisely drilled, the screw heads do not sit flat on the mast. If they do not, they may make the whole piece too wide for the tabernacle. That is what happened to me, so I just took one of the screws off. There is not a lot of sideways motion at that point anyway, and it has been fine all season. (Mitchell Rothman) (Back)  

 

  1. Wiring Problems - Questions and Solutions

Question:  On my G-26 the steaming light comes on whenever the running lights are turned on. Of course this doesn't meet COLREGs if I'm under sail.
My question what is the routing of the steaming light wiring so I can trace it and separate it from the running lights circuit? The one end appears as a two wire cable at the mast step. But disappears into the over head immediately below never to be seen again.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Do the wires run up through the cabin ceiling under the small rectangular piece of teak that separates the main cabin from the bathroom locker area? Do I need to remove this piece of wood to run new wiring?

Suggestions:  On my G-26 all the lighting wires run back to a switch panel just to port of the hatchway. The running lights and the mast light leads were all wired together just a foot or two from that switch panel. You may be fortunate enough that the steaming light and the masthead light leads both run to this location. You'll need to find this wiring harness and sort it out there. From that point its a pretty easy matter to install a separate switch for the steaming light. This assumes that you have separate leads to the two mast lights. I re-wired my boat this spring and didn't find it that hard to add wiring. Again, the wire loom runs along the underside of the port deck. I did have to drill additional holes in the bulkhead but if you keep them high under the deck offset and to the outside then they are not that noticeable. (Mark Reynolds)

I looked at mine last night, and the wires exit the cabin liner behind the main support beam and just ahead of that piece of teak that you mention.  They then go under the rolled "vinyl" material that runs across the top of all the bulkheads, and run along this until exiting on the port side just under the deck (where the nut & bolts for the toe rail are)

My '73 G-26 has the anchor & steaming light wire coming through the mast step behind the mast.  The wiring in front of the mast is for my VHF antenna.
The wires enter the cabin just ahead of the cross beam support (between the head and hanging locker) then go under the white liner material with two foam filled edges that cover the top of the main salon port bulkhead.  They then route down to the port side on top of the bulkhead, then run along under the port side deck, then go behind the ice chest bulkhead (there should be a removable metal panel in the far corner).  The wires then go to the fuse panel, and then to the switch panel.
There is a detailed wiring schematic in the G-26 owners manual. (Go To G26 Page) (Jim Quibell)

On my Grampian 23', they were in the rolled vinyl moulding at the intersection of the bulkhead and interior surface of the cabin top. Just take a screwdriver or small tool/object with a hook on it and pry open the soft vinyl to expose the wires underneath.  (Joseph L. Escalante, Jr.)

Question:  Any tips on rewiring the mast?

Suggestions:  When running the new wiring up the mast, consider using long cable ties (leaving the tails intact) every foot & a half or so, to help alleviate annoying cable slap inside the mast. (Leon Gonzalez)

I've seen masts with a light piece of PVC conduit pop riveted inside.  With the wires inside that, they stay quiet and when the time comes to rewire, they slide out easily. (Bryan Allen)

>

Just to add my ten cents worth, I redid my mast 2 years ago and went with the PVC tube approach. It is certainly great if you have to add wires later on as I did , but I found that some of the pop rivets have a tendency to eat their way into the PVC over time and get loose . Then the PVC pipe starts to bang. I had to take the offending rivets out and inject in the holes a dab of special epoxy made for plastics to glue the PVC tube back on the mast, then a new rivet. All and all, if I had to start anew I would go for the plastic ties even if it had to be redone every 5 years.

Also there are several qualities available for the ties. Some are made specially for outdoors ( nylon) and are more resistant than others . I would imagine going for the best quality there is. (Eric Maille) 

I did the mast with new cables. Using fish tape ( electrical contractor tool for guiding cables ) I drilled an exit hole at the base and fed the VHF cable and three strand marine wiring. It was easier to remove the rope guides at the top of the mast for pulling the cable. Mast was horizontal  and attached to the boat . On pulling the fish tape through, I had problems getting snagged up, I think at the steaming light but not absolutely sure. A little twisting and swearing got around it and of course it never works on the first try . The fish tape was inserted in to the base hole and pushed out the top mast , cable was taped to the fish tape and pulled back down. Usual coming out of the base with pliers and a bit of probing I retrieved the cable in the mast and  it was pulled out through the intended hole . I did not remove the base of the mast since it was riveted in place. It would have been a lot easier if I did , I just wasn't sure how to bolt in back in and I couldn't find rivets the same size , but in hind sight a bolt going through from one side across the inside mast and out would work.
For the wiring , I used one cable for return ground on both the steaming and anchor light. The two others went to each light. for the steaming light once the cover is removed , I believe you could retrieve the cable , some swearing and cursing here.
I placed a knot at the cable exits ( top of mast )  for the anchor and VHF and rubber grommets in the holes..
Note: if your fighting with the grommet to fit , put it on a flat surface and slice it , so you have the letter "c" now you can make it smaller than the hole and fit it easier. Cable exits at the base where attached to cable connecter , VHF was a coaxial screw type and the wiring was a plug with a rubber boot. The coaxial works great clean and re-usable. The plug works OK but the rubber boot does not fit perfectly and dries up and falls off from UV . 
Both cables go in to the deck in the middle of the mast step at the rear of the mast . I have cable sealers that screw down to make a seal at the deck.
Note : I used the existing hole and cable seal that came down into the cabin which butts up against the amidships bulkhead. Putting in the new cable made it a very tight fit at a angle with the movement of the boat the cable was worn quickly and the ground shorted. I had to cut the cable, re-drill and re-plug the hole for 
a proper fit. All goes back to the main panel fused and then switched. 
 
One of the switches couldn't fit on the switch panel so I had it on a separate toggle. There was no on and off label , and I kept leaving it on. Mast light has a eye to turn on and off  so I would only know if the mast light was on at night. I put a 12v LED on it that fits on the panel. BTW I built a electrical  Nav station panel all on the starboard side just past the galley.
 
Note: Cables bang inside , since I did not try to muffle them (that's another project), the cable guides I think would work well . I don't have any noise while asleep since the water mirrors overnight without traffic, but I would like get them muffled. I don't know if any body would think of running them on the outside and cable clamp them every six inches . There was also an article of capsizing and pitch polling that would cause the mast to break when up righted since the mast filled with water when submerged and with the added weight during right sideing caused a weak spot for the break to occur. Their resolve was to fill the mast with foam at the top so it remained light . I thought if there were two inch holes drilled in a line down each side the mast  
water would drain immediately and you could tie wrap your cables inside the mast,  but that just thinking. (Paul Guy Lachance)

Question has been asked whether the G26 was wired for a mast-head light. Question was posed to Gill Bibby who replied,

"Mast head lights were optional and in the early days the wire was installed between the fiber glass liner and the deck as the liner was being installed. I would say that the wire could be under the mast step but I could be wrong on that one." (Gill Bibby) (Back)

 

  1. Forestay Fitting Failure

                    Concerns have been raised about failure of the cast aluminum forestay fitting on the Grampian 26:

Has anyone had experience with replacing or losing the forestay fitting?  It is cast aluminum, and in one G26 in our club had the casting fail at the top of the fitting while under sail, pulling out the whole piece above the holes for the pin holding the forestay.  The mast came down into the cockpit (fortunately not hitting anyone).  The boat needed a new mast, new boom, and new chainplate for one of the shrouds.  Klacko Spars indicated that they have seen a number of these fail, and they make replacements only in stainless steel (about C$750).  The insurance company paid for the damage I mentioned, but said they no longer would because this is a recognized hazard with G26s.  

Others tell me that cast aluminum does can crack and split, often with no warning (Mitch Rothman)

I had to replace the fitting after detecting a crack in it.  I installed a heavy stainless "U" bolt through the deck and reinforced below with a large and heavy plywood backing plate. (I picked up the hull edges as well)  Have had no more problems.  It definitely is dangerous if not replaced, can't imagine what they were thinking. (Sailinsfun)

Question whether the fitting cracked from hole to hole horizontally or if just the metal over the one hole ripped out?

I've got a G2-34 and have done some work on the cast aluminum fittings on the boom this winter. The fitting where the mainsheet attaches to the boom has three holes, and two were worn badly oval and were deforming the metal at the edge of the fitting. I've seen this on a G26 forestay fitting as well. If the oval hole is not taken care of, the edge of the fitting will eventually weaken to the point of ripping out.

If the whole top of the fitting came off, zipping through all the holes, that suggests to me that cracks started at the sides of the hole(s) and eventually grew large enough that the fitting was weakened to the point where it broke.

Metals that are subjected to stresses that cycle up and down (like the loads on a forestay with wind gusts and boat pitching) go through a process called fatigue. Basically, each stress cycle damages a microscopic amount of metal. Eventually small cracks start in the most highly stressed area, like the edge of a hole, and the cracks grow over time. As they grow they weaken the part until at some point the part can't take the load anymore and snaps.

(As a side note, the aluminum on the skins of aircraft is highly stressed. Fatigue cracks are expected. Maintenance crews look for cracks and will actually write on parts where the crack was at each inspection. There are guidelines for how long the cracks can get before the part needs to be replaced. Since the bottom of the wings are in tension, cracks occur there where passengers don't see them.)

I mention all this to suggest that the fittings will show symptoms of failure before they come apart. I've seen maintenance guides that suggest you annually check the swaged ends of standing rigging and mast fittings with a magnifying glass to look for any tiny cracks starting.

The same goes for the forestay fitting and the chainplates.

A little fancier is what's called a dye penetrant test. Welding supply stores carry spray cans (usually cleaner, dye and developer) that you spray on and cracks show up as red lines on the white developer. Auto machine shops also do crack testing as a standard service.

In my case I had three castings with holes elongated, but no cracks.

In one I just closed up the old holes with "plastic aluminum" (the goop in a squeeze tube) to keep them from being used again and drilled new holes in good metal. One part had the hole in a lug made from aluminum plate that was welded to the casting. I made a new lug, cut off the old and had the new lug welded to the casting. The third casting I had the welder weld the holes closed and I drilled new holes of the proper size.

These castings are very weldable, but you need to find a welder with the right equipment and skill at welding aluminum.

I just had elongated holes, but if there were cracks you can grind/file to past the bottom of the cracks and fill with new weld metal. The weld metal is actually quite a bit stronger than the base casting.

My gooseneck fitting is stainless steel that was welded from four pieces. Two of the welds were starting to crack and one weld was broken. I had the welder grind out these welds and reweld them. It took him about 10 minutes.

Naturally, I'm going to keep a close eye on these parts, but it's just part of my pre-sail inspection now.

I suspect Klacko Spars supplied these castings originally to Grampian, but they would have outsourced them from an aluminum foundry. It may just not be possible to get any of these castings anymore. Today they do a lot of custom stainless fabrication, so I expect that's a big reason why they suggest stainless.

I also like the stainless steel U-bolt idea. Maybe adding a shackle to go through the U-bolt and using its pin through the end of the forestay will keep the pin from deforming.

So, as these boats continue to get older, it's certainly important to do regular close inspections of the metal parts to look for fatigue cracks and deformation. I'll suggest that if caught early, a lot of potential problems can be fixed relatively cheaply. (Tim Nye)

Common problem. Happened to me but my stick didn't come down. I ground off the aluminum fin (where the forestay attaches to) and put a stainless u-bolt in place as the previous writer stated. I backed the fitting with a stainless plate. The only thing I would caution you about is that the round clevis pin on the forestay fitting has since deformed itself under pressure against the round u-bolt and now cannot be removed.

Otherwise it’s been 7 years since the repair. (Todd Dupuis)

Please find attached photo's of my G26 forestay fix. The only thing I caution you about is that the clevis pin on the end of the forestay fitting has deformed a little to the point that it cannot be removed.

As a result I have to leave the end of the forestay fitting on the u-bolt which is not an issue for me given my setup. Notice that the u-bolt is a Wichard. I've backed the u-bolt with a stainless plate.  I also added a second fitting aft of the u-bolt which turned out to be of not much use. The fix was about 8 years ago and still going strong. (Todd Dupuis)

                   

(Click on thumbnails for larger image)

 
  1. Replacing Floor Supports

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