rivets in mast !

Hi all ,
the two rivets in the bottom of the mast (mines an 09 model) seem to fill up with water after a days sailing through the open rivet holes (where the rivets have been pulled) does anyone see a problem with filling these holes up with some sort of silicon to stop water entering the mast! it seems to take days before it stops leaking out !
and this topic may have been covered before but how much effort do you take to clean up -wash-maintain your Ai after a day on the water ?
Cheers, Groove

Silicone wont affect the rivett, it will be fine. You might want to make sure that it is dry inside and that you don't trap any salt water in there.

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Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

Cheers rokraider .

Lots! Your tired, youve been blasting across the water, youve come in.....now the hard part..out with the mast, off with the akas and amas, trolley the hull, maybe some lifting....mind your back, that hull is HEAVY!!!!....maybe in fish lurking inside the hull...very STINKY....maybe time now to take a break....ice cold beer?....Then the serious bit, theres a lot of aluminium (aloomin-um?????!!!!!) you wash that down well, I dont care if its 'anodised' / 'e-coated' ..... wash the drive, wash the crossbars, really wash down the akas....then get a bucket of water and slosh out the cockpit area. Of course if you car topping the boat its even more important...imagine a few drops of salt water running down your windscreen and lodging in some crevice under the hood of your car. If your car topping follow the advice on this forum and invest in a 15 ltr portable spray washer (plugs into your cigarette lighter) dont forget your vehicle is an essential part of your sailing!!!!!

Probably the most stress you/your AI will encounter will be those involved in lifting it onto the roof rack!...periodic check of the crossbar bolts and sneak a look at the mast cup braces, check them. Rudderpin nip the ends together and gently remove it, is it distorted???...if so change it. Check everything with the attitude of "if it can go wrong it will go wrong". I promise you if you follow these simple but boring tasks you will be paid back in spades.....I dont always heed my own advice...but it could make the difference between having a wonderful sail or receiving an unpleasant awakening!

cheers Philip1el
Im hearing you !!! thats pretty much what i do , lots of work to do it properly but like you said well worth it in the long run , im not going to sleep tonight now as i didnt put that much effort into washing the car down on my last outing , Dam salt water !!! Love it

A 20-litre collapsible plastic container of fresh water poured over the whole thing immediately after hauling-out gets the salt off.

I deliberately keep my 15 year-old Van for carting Kayaks and Hobies to the water so I dont have to suffer seeing a newer vehicle get trashed.

Large plastic Bins to throw all the wet stuff in.

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Fair Skies, Max.