Inadequate thickness of compression post

My Gulf 32 Sailboat was desigind by the legendary William Garden. It is a full keeled sloop (with optional ketch rig). It is a very tough boat with a thick, solid fiberglass hull and thick fiberglass/plywood decks. My 1990 boat was made even tougher with half inch lexan storm windows, all new rigging, chain plates , a boom brake and running back stays.

The mast is deck-stepped and downward pressure from the mast is transferred to the keel area by a wooden compression post and plywood bulkhead. The bulkhead also forms the wall of the head and shower area. Consequently the lower part of the plywood bulkhead is prone to getting wet and rotten. In addition, the compression post is of inadequate section (approx 2 X 4 inches) and is further weakened by having an inset slot for the latch of the door to the head area.

I have owned this boat from when it was only 3 years old and I remember that door unlatching sometimes in rough seas. Finally (one year ago) it got to the point that the door, would mostly not latch at all. Looking at the compression post, I could see that it had become "bowed"  by almost half an inch, so that the door latch could not properly engage with the inset slot.  This design flaw was exacerbated by rot at the base of the bulkhead so that it could no longer help carry pressure from the mast.

Fixing the problem

With the advice of Steve Patterson of Oxnard CA, I intended to install a strong "sister" upright beam bonded to the original post after relieving pressure on the mast by slackening the support shrouds. The bottom of the bulkhead would also be repaired with laminated epoxy.

The first thing was to reduce downward pressure on the mast so that repairs could be made. I was advised to use electrical tape to mark original position of the turnbuckles on the innner and outer shrouds and then slacken them. The tape would guide where to retighten the turnbuckles after completion of the repair.

Then a 4 by 4 inch (section) piece of straight-grained spruce was cut to length with the bottom shaped to fit  the huge fiberglass "saddle" on the top of the keel area.  Before starting the main tasks, the whole area, including the plywood bulkhead was thoroughly dried and the head was not used or some days.

Next, surfaces of the original compression post and new "sister" support beam were sanded with 100 grit sandpaper, brushed clean and both coated with Gorilla® wood glue as shown.

They were clamped together and 4.5 inch Lumbertite® deck screws inserted using a power drill into countersunk guide holes. At the same time, the bottom of the sister beam was embedded in epoxy, containing mashed fiberglass mat. Some liquid epoxy was also poured though access holes to fill any voids in the epoxy foundation.

The area at top of the sister beam was provided with a shaped plywood support pad, coated with rapid setting 3M® 5200 and wedge shims hammered in to ensure that there was plenty of pressure against the underside of the deck. This partially reduced downward pressure on the original compression post.

Finally the shrouds were tightened to original specs and the cotter pins replaced.

Bowing of the original compression post was gone and the door to the head latched perfectly and still does after a more than 2,000 nM sea voyage.