I would think that at 26 years of a gentle life, you are probably fine. When you say ‘inspected in place’, it sounds like you mean, not removing the shrouds.
While inspecting the rig is certainly a good idea, as far as finding out obvious problems, like fittings and spreaders, etc, you aren’t likely to find any problems with the rod that way. Usually when they begin to crack, it is close to the head, and you won’t see those without removing them and sliding the stemballs out of the way to see the heads. When I checked mine out a few years ago, I had all the rods disassembled, and I cleaned the ends up with passivating acid and them buffed them up good with a small canvas buffing wheel and compound. There was light rusting, (staining, actually, from several years in the Caribbean) Even tho I do have the dye penetrant, I just examined them with a 10X Loupe around the ends after cleaning up, and they were all good. Well, except for the D1, which had slid out of the tube on the way home, and ground half the head off on the pavement by the time my younger crewmember (Who still has hearing) yelled at me to stop. Fortunately, I only lost around an inch and half, and had extra length in the turnbuckle to compensate. Kind of a pain to have to make up a heading die for just one head, but not much choice. If you have any cast, or kinks, remove those as best you can to make it as straight as possible. The tighter the rig the better, any looseness and the kinks or curl keeps flexing, and that is likely to cause any cracks. I say just examine the rig and let the rod ride, as long as there is no profuse evidence of rusting at any of the heads. And yes, Lloyd, I would try to get those kinks out of the rod if possible, and tighten the rig up. Bill Coleman Entrada, Erie, PA From: Charlie Nelson via CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com] Sent: Friday, March 12, 2021 9:24 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: cenel...@aol.com Subject: Stus-List Rigging replacement Hello listers-- My boat is entering her 26th year (delivered for use in 1995) and except for a replaced forestay, has its original rod-rigging. Local riggers, among others, believe that rod rigging should be replaced (or re-headed?) at about 25 years of use. Since C&C finally bit the dust about 20 years ago, I suspect there are many listers whose rigging has or will soon reach this milestone. For background, I have never and don't have any plans to take Water Phantom seriously off-shore although I may cruise off-shore between marinas or up and down the ICW. She is used almost exclusively for local PHRF racing in the NC sounds/rivers with occasional trips to Charleston or the Chesapeake. I plan to have the rigging inspected in place this month--over the years one of the starboard shrouds seized and it was sent off for repair but otherwise no issues. My question is do I need to bite the bullet and re-head or replace all the rod rigging at this milestone? Or can I have it seriously inspected, perhaps by the group in RI (forget the name), and only re-head/replace what they deem questionable. Or given my use, maybe I should just "...forgetaboutit..." BTW, my rig is a triple spreader, all rod (except for the forestay) so I suspect the expense of replacement or re-heading is north of 5 boat bucks, not to mention the labor to take it apart and reassemble. What would the list do? Thanks, Charlie Nelson Water Phantom 1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb
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