Our previous boat was an Ericson 25+ which is basically the same boat as the 26. that mast was anodized and Heald up extremely well. If your mast is anodized, you have a great starting point. If it's painted, there are a few more variables in the decision.
I'm going through this process right now. Bruce hit the nail on the head for two of the most likely scenarios. If you're going to paint, do it right and remove all the hardware. If it's in good shape, touch up small areas and keep it simple.
My mast was painted previously and they didn't remove some hardware. Specifically the T-terminal backing plates which are large pieces of stainless steel that rest up against the inside of the mast without any isolation. Every one had significant paint bubbling with a healthy layer of aluminum oxide between the mast and paint. We caught it in time and the spots cleaned up easily. If we left it again, the corrosion would just continue and I'd be back in the same situation in a few years.
There was at least one other time our mast was removed when it was shipped from Sand Diego to Oregon by the previous owner. Their rigger did a good job of removing most the fasteners and reinstalling them with Lanocote, but they didn't address any of the corrosion. That effort seemed to stop the progression of the corrosion, but it didn't fix what had already been done. At least it made it easier for me to remove all the hardware.
The painter I'm working with recommended we don't strip the mast all the way to bare aluminum. They asked me to remove the corrosion and feather the edge into the good paint. He said there's always a chance that paint won't adhere properly to aluminum regardless of the prep work and if the existing paint is good, it provides the best possible primer coat. On areas where we had to strip it to bare aluminum, they used what they called "prep wipes". I'm not sure who makes them, but my understanding is it's an etching primer in a pad. They wipe the areas down with the pad, then start the paint process.
Installing rivets and tapping holes for screws in the mast are both common tasks. It's a good skill to have when you own a sailboat and they are pretty easy to learn. There's always something you want to install on the mast or boom. The slightly difficult part is removing hardware. Especially drilling rivets out. You have to be careful not to damage the hole in the mast so the new rivet will seat properly. Even if you do manage to mess one up, you can usually use a slightly larger river to cover the mistake.
