Stu Davies repaired the whisker rods by drilling and setting four new "popular" rivets

In mid-May, Algarve had an exciting day. Earlier this year, we sailed Beneteau 381 from Gibraltar to Bruce Shipyard in Faro, lifted her up and carried out pollution prevention. Now it's time to enjoy the fun in the sun.

Our plan is to leave and head to Ayamonte, Spain, at the mouth of the Guadiana River, about 30 miles away.

The weather forecast is light southwest wind, which will give us a good beam reach.

The journey usually takes about 6 hours, so it departs from Rio Formosa where Faro is at the last low tide, and finally provides tidal lift to Ayamonte along the coast.

The wind was very light at first, so we pulled out 150% of Genoa and settled down in a sunny and calm passage.

As the tide changes, we noticed that we are progressing well-over 6 sessions of SOG. At this rate, we will reach the tidal gate near Ayamonte early. The wind also started to increase, which is common near the Algarve coast in the afternoon-as the land warms, the warm air rises, drawing in cooler air from the sea.

So we decided to eat a few rolls in Genoa to slow us down. The whisker rod is hung on the eye of Genoa and usually swings as Genoa enters.

Everything looks good, and we move on. The wind continues to increase and we are flying, so just a few more turns on the curling machine.

But when I pulled up the rope, I noticed that the pole seemed to stick a little bit, and the rope was getting harder and harder.

Suddenly there was a loud noise, and a 4.5m long whisker rod hung on Genoa, flapping it. The end fitting hanging on the mast broke, and now we have a flapping sail with an aluminum pole attached to it!

We were on the autopilot, so I changed our course to calm the flutter, and then I moved forward to catch it.

I carefully pulled the fur rope until I could lasso the pole.

We were lucky: I thought there would be dents and so on on the deck, but there was nothing. In fact, the only damage was a broken jaw on the pole.

The rod consists of an aluminum extrusion with a diameter of 70 mm, with two aluminum castings (end fittings) riveted at the ends.

This is a simple repair method, but only if you know how to drill out and reset Monel rivets.

New end fittings for Z-Spars

Zspars has inventory of all series, even the used goods installed on our ship in 1999. I called them and they sent me a new end fitting from stock for less than £60.

The old parts are riveted in place with four 5mm rivets, and the new parts are equipped with four new rivets when they arrive.

In order to remove the old rivets, I used a 5mm drill bit to drill directly into the rivet head.

When the drill bit passes through the rivet head to the shank, the rivet head falls off and rides on the drill bit.

I used a 3mm nail, ground off the tip as a pinhole, and knocked the remnants of the old rivet into the tube.

Then, after tapping a few times on the extrusion around the casting to loosen a little oxide layer between the parts, the old parts are separated from the aluminum tube.

1. A 5mm drill bit is required to drill out the old rivet head.

2. Demonstrate on another accessory and start drilling carefully.

3. Use a sharp drill bit to circle the chips cleanly.

4. Soon, the rivet head will separate and wrap around the drill bit.

I cleaned the oxide layer inside the pole and applied Duralac anti-corrosion paste on the inside and on the new casting, where it was inserted into the pole. This paste prevents corrosion and reaction between the different metals used to make rods and accessories

I dried it and adjusted the direction of the new accessory so that it aligns with the accessory on the other end. Then, using the existing hole in the tube as a guide, drill a new 5 mm hole in the end casting with a wall thickness of about 10 mm.

Rivets used for aluminum ship parts are usually made of Monel alloy, which is a non-reactive metal and will not corrode in contact with seawater. They are usually more difficult to "set up" than everyday aluminum ones.

A typical one-handed squeeze rivet gun (left) may be difficult to fix Monel rivets, and its flexibility is not as good as ordinary aluminum rivets. The increased purchase of the lazy pliers riveting machine (right) means that it can better handle Monel rivets.

Therefore, the tools required to set them are much more powerful than the one-handed "squeeze" tools that people are used to.

Therefore, for this work, I used "lazy pliers", which provides more mechanical advantages for setting the rivets.

As I mentioned before, if you have the right tools, this will be a simple task. Now the price of rivet tools is very competitive-this is what most practical ship owners can do.

Popular or blind rivets are a convenient way to join metal parts together. They can also be used to join hard plastics, but generally cannot be used to join wood.

'Pop' is a trademark owned by Stanley Black & Decker and is a technology originally developed in the aircraft industry for use when only one side of the joint is accessible.

Popular rivets work by pulling the pin head through a tube made of weaker metal.

This action enlarges the underside of the tube to "pinch" the material together.

The shaft or shank (called the mandrel) of the pin snaps off with a "pop", leaving the head in place to seal the tube.

One-handed squeeze rivet tools are usually used for rivets up to 3⁄16 inch (4.76 mm). Larger rivets and anything made of Monel alloy may need to be fixed with lazy pliers riveting tools.

To set the rivets, drill holes in the two parts to be connected. Match your rivet size to the size of the drill bit (this also applies to drilling rivets).

Rivets are also available in various lengths. This is called the "grip size". Longer rivets connect thicker materials together.

A good online guide can be found at blacksfasteners.co.nz/assets/RivetChart5.pdf showing the grip size you need

When removing the rivet, you should find a clean hole that can be reused. If there is fretting between parts, larger rivets can be used. Simply use the next size drill corresponding to the new rivet size to open the hole.

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