Cautions: I haven't seen the website and don't know the Vanguard.

1) You can certainly isolate the stick from a steel mast step with suitable
plastics, but why bother?

2) Unless this is DIY and you don't weld aluminum, the extra cost of having
a pro fab it out of aluminum will be small. Aluminum is more expensive and
the welding rig is a little more expensive, but cutting the pieces is much
easier.

3) Preferably use one of the marine aluminum alloys in the 50xx or 54xx
series (for example, 5052). 6061 is very much easier to get and will
probably do just fine. I'd be happy with 6061 unless it was going to be wet
with bilge water often.

4) Paint or anodizing is not required -- aluminum hulls are often left
unpainted above the W/L.

--
Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com



"HallotParson" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I am about to have a new mast step fabricated for my Pearson Vanguard, per
the
specs on the owners website. The website calls for a step to be
fabricated in
steel, but my question is: will this not react corrosively with my mast?
Even
if painted or powdercoated, I am sure that eventually steel would contact
alluminum. Any advice on the best sollution here will be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks,
Hal