With Nauticats you do not often find design defects. The fit and finish is usually close to perfect, and everything is over engineered. Therefore, we were surprised to see a slight warping of the flooring near the main mast compression post. Further investigation revealed that the compression post did not squarely sit on the stringer below the flooring. With years of force being applied, the portion of the post not supported was causing the floor to deflect. After inspections by the rigging and fiberglass experts, Buster Phipps of Phipps Boat Works was called to solve the problem. After the main mast was removed, Buster carefully removed the settee bench and flooring to gain access to the stringer at the base of the compression post. In the accompanying photo, you can see he has glued & screwed an oak block in place. The flooring is in clamps in his shop being returned to its original shape. The post will be trimmed and shimmed to achieve its original placement, and then the floor and settee bench will be reinstalled. The post will then be fully supported, with no visible indication that there has been a repair.
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