Hello Amelians,
   I have the spars out of my Amel and am considering refinishing them.  Amazingly 95% of the mainmast still looks good and even has a shine with the original 1987 paint.  Both spars do have some minor corrosion areas so there is some pitting which will require media blasting to get back to clean metal. I would very much like to hear about Amel owners experiences who have had their spars refinished and how the finish has held up. As I understand things, a few years back Awlgrip stopped selling Chromated primers for aluminum and a new primer which I believe is the Max Cor CF is now offered as a replacement.  I am wondering how this new primer has been performing with respect to bond, bubbling and preventing ongoing corrosion as compared to the traditional Chromated primers that they used to offer.  I have had great luck with the traditional Chromated Awlgrip primer but have not used the replacement primer enough to know how well it works or not.  I should mention that I actually have enough of the traditional chromated primer left to prime all of the spars and bits but it unfortunately is in storage 6000 miles away and shipping would be difficult at best. My objective is to do my best to insure that the new paint will protect the masts as well as possible and last a good number of years so thanks for any advice or tips.

   One additional question.  Is the white plastic edge trim which runs along the sides of the mast openings still available and if so where?  My spars have the Nirvana label on them but hopefully it is the same material used on the SM.   Thanks for any input on these two questions.

Best,
James Alton
SV Sueno
Maramu #220
On the hard in Marmaris, Turkey