After a pleasant summer of sailing my newly acquired boat, I have a few modifications planned with which I need some help/advice. For the sake of thread clarity, I will enter them one at a time.
The boat has mast steps which are going to be removed. I sail with my 21 year old son, who is an avid rock climber, and he has no qualms about going up with a bosuns chair, if needed. The steps occasionally catch the main halyard and obviously add additional weight. And I don't like the way they look.
My question has to do with filling the holes. I could, I suppose, just replace the screws or bolts in the holes, but I was hoping for something a little cleaner looking that that. Do I need to be concerned with strength of the rig when filling these holes? It may be a simple minded question, and not the last, but I have read cautionary suggestions elsewhere about minimizing the number of penetrations in your mast for just this reason.
Please save any well intentioned suggestions concerning keeping the mast steps in place for whomever buys them from me.