I went to the boat this morning planning to take off the mainsail and figure out how to build an outhaul, since our boat came without one. I left with the sail off, as planned, but also the boom off and fully disassembled. In the process I ran into some lovely examples that belong in the WTF department.
Take for example the installation of this turning block. Three philips machine screws, one hex-head. Brilliant! (Turns out the hex-head is there because the threads on the old hole must have been messed up, so the hole was over-drilled and re-threaded. West Marine does not carry philips in 5/16-18. Nevertheless, I will look for them elsewhere. Also the hex head was probably 1/2-1/3 of an inch longer than the philips screws. Sigh.)
And check out this fabulous installation of a horn cleat using two -- wood or sheet metal? -- screws that are at least 1/2 inch too long for the job, and too coarsely threaded.
I'm sure this installation, which is the gooseneck side of my boom, was also made in response to some dire mixup. The old holes must have been stripped of threads, so instead of overdrilling and rethreading -- which I can see is tricky, because the holes are so close to the edge -- the genius here drilled new holes. 2mm too close to the edge. Brilliant! And then used five machine screws and one sheet metal screw. This is so fucked up I don't know how I'm going to fix it. I'm thinking of returning to the original holes and tapping them properly. At least that way the cap doesn't leave a 2mm gap when you put it on the extrusion! Note the complete absence of anti-corrosion measures in this area. The aluminum is practically crumbling, in the area of the boom subject to the most torque. Oy vey!
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