Forestay fitting: How dangerous is this crack, and how to get it repaired?

[Stu Jackson]

Good point, Ted.  It's just surface corrosion, bound to be cleaned up by my BMW (me!) sometime soon!  I also noted that a small number of my tools have exhibited the same unwanted patina (my box end wrench set).  I suppose my enforced absence from the boat during my leg issues the past two years have contributed to that - we used to use the boat every week and ventilation was rather good - having the boat closed up for altogether too long didn't help.