Kemp mast sail entry/tongue

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eddystone

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Tricky mooring pick up yesterday with 20+ knot wind opposed to tide made worse by top of sail rising like Lazarus from the stack pack., propelling boat onto the buoy. Tidying up the mess suddenly the tongue in the sail entry sprang onto the deck and the sliders/cars cascaded out. The only parts I can find are the tongue which miraculously got caught in the toe rail and a rectangular block of dense foam which stayed in situ. Of course something else might have gone in the river!

The sail entry "gate" isn't the original - its the one Sanders told me I needed for a fully battened sail or it may have been something to do with all the sliders having cars.

Should the tongue just spring back in with suitable force and how should the foam block be positioned
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I should have said that the first diagram shows how once the pad (or sponge) are in place, how the part is inserted upwards then pushed down into place..
 
A salutary lesson, if I may say so, in the consequences of ignoring the first rule of picking up a mooring ; "always work with the strongest force" i.e if the tide is strong enough to push your boat against the wind, stem the tide. If the wind is strong enough to push your boat against the tide, motor into the wind. It seems that yesterday the wind was strong enough to push the OP's boat onto the buoy, countering the efforts of the tide to push it the other way., hence an upwind+ downtide approach would have been advisable. Apologies for drifting the thread away from the substantive question.
 
awol said:
I'm surprised you can get cars through that - I even suspect whoever fitted your sail removed the gate insert. I fitted a solid one when I changed to batten cars like Seldén Sail Entry Track Gate @Technical Marine Supplies . Needs holes drilled and tapped in the mast and try not to drop the screws when removing!
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They're not the type of cars that go inside the mast track but sliders with external cars. I removed the old cassette and fitted a new Selden one exactly as recommended by Sanders. As it appears from diagram and parts list posted above, there isn't anything actually missing, then need to see how to secure rubber wedge in correct position,
 
awol said:
Needs holes drilled and tapped in the mast and try not to drop the screws when removing!
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Some care is indeed needed, but the screws that come with the fitting should not be fully unscrewed when the gate is removed. That is, they should be unscrewed from the mast track, but remain in the gate fitting (in which the holes are also threaded).
 
I'd just use some of the double sided sticky tape that I use for sewing for that.

If it managed to stick some elf ears on me at Christmas and a nose/forehead on me at Halloween, I expect it would hold the rubber spring in place for long enough for you to get the guide back into place.
 
eddystone said:
Very helpful guy in Allspars in Plymouth - just a question of sticking foam block back in correct location and springing tongue back in. He suggested super glue or Sikaflex
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They are very good and I have always found their advice honest, i.e. not trying to sell you something.
 
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