How to rejuvenate an adjustable Spinnaker pole

[zachduckworth]

Hi,
I have one of the adjustable Forespare spinnaker poles. Not the cheap, lightweight ones, the bigger, heavier-dury ones. A few months ago the control line on my pole snapped and since then I haven’t been able to telescope it.

I watched some videos on fixing them and then started working on it tonight. Ever notice that screws never freeze in how to videos? Well a few are hard-frozen on my spin pole. I ended up having to cut off the end cap with a hacksaw to free it. This means I’ll need to cut each piece down when I put it back together, but it’s way too long for my boat already. So that’s nit a huge deal.

The end fitting is still stuck to the off cut of the extrusion. I’m going to wake up early tomorrow and cut it free with an angle grinder, because my time is precious and this thing looks like it’s going to test me at every turn.

My question is, what can/should I do to this thing (aside from tefgel) that will make it easier to work on in the future, or make it better? I wish there was some way to rig an extension mechanism on the outside instead of inside. I suppose that if it was possible somebody would make it already. Anyway, advise on working on one of these things is appreciated!