Liveaboard Dream - Not a Good Start .......

[LadyInBed]

Sorry to hear of your plight.
I don't know if you are aware of the method but hollow wooden masts keep the look but reduce the weight of solid masts, and you can run wires up the middle
See:
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/articles/birdsmouth/mast.htm

 

[Bilgediver]

David

And again in english ?

He means those bits at the pointy end that upset the playful dolphins and porpoises... Midshipman Hornblower would
understand perfectly

 

[ribrage]

Ahhhh the pointy end, with the wirey bits - I get it now - I feel so inadequate !

 

[saltylegs]

Sorry to hear of your plight.
I don't know if you are aware of the method but hollow wooden masts keep the look but reduce the weight of solid masts, and you can run wires up the middle
See:
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/articles/birdsmouth/mast.htm

Also sorry for your trouble.

I think that your masts are hollow box section (judging by your arrival photo) and as such should be fairly quick to reproduce, if they can examine most of the bits then they wont have to redesign the whole kit and caboodle.
but as said by others I would not rule out alloy replacement.

Nice boat btw and hope all gets sorted quickly

 

[OldBawley]

If I had to replace the masts of our classic I would go for aluminium.
The yards in the Med with facilities to pull a mast are few.
Yachts are stored with standing mast.
Maintenance of wooden spars is much more needed under the Med. sun ( The UV killing the epoxy glue ) Varnish last one season, ext..
Lots of Carpenter bees who eat big holes in vertical wood, not to mention woodpeckers.
Price of wooden spars is much higher I guess and resale value of the yacht could be a problem with wooden masts. Younger people dont understand and trust wood.
I rebuild our masts myself 20 years ago, and see that the epoxy glue has had it under this Med sun.

Success with the repairs.

 

[charles_reed]

If I had to replace the masts of our classic I would go for aluminium.
The yards in the Med with facilities to pull a mast are few.
Yachts are stored with standing mast.
Maintenance of wooden spars is much more needed under the Med. sun ( The UV killing the epoxy glue ) Varnish last one season, ext..
Lots of Carpenter bees who eat big holes in vertical wood, not to mention woodpeckers.
Price of wooden spars is much higher I guess and resale value of the yacht could be a problem with wooden masts. Younger people dont understand and trust wood.
I rebuild our masts myself 20 years ago, and see that the epoxy glue has had it under this Med sun.

Success with the repairs.

On a practical basis, I have to agree entirely with you. Quality control of a glued wooden box section is almost impossible to guarantee - however I've had a fatigue failure mode (off Cabo Gata) with a 14 - year old aluminium section!!!!

Gravity storms happen - especially to bold sailors.

 

[Little Sam]

If I had to replace the masts of our classic I would go for aluminium.
The yards in the Med with facilities to pull a mast are few.
Yachts are stored with standing mast.
Maintenance of wooden spars is much more needed under the Med. sun ( The UV killing the epoxy glue ) Varnish last one season, ext..
Lots of Carpenter bees who eat big holes in vertical wood, not to mention woodpeckers.
Price of wooden spars is much higher I guess and resale value of the yacht could be a problem with wooden masts. Younger people dont understand and trust wood.
I rebuild our masts myself 20 years ago, and see that the epoxy glue has had it under this Med sun.

Success with the repairs.

+1

Sounds like your heading round to spend many years here in the Med anyway so i'd definitely go the Aluminum white enameled mast replacement route. Much more resistant to the massivo UV you get here. And the heat, i'd bet your old mast on some days would get so hot here you could fry a virtual egg on it ! not to say wooden masts dont exist here theres plenty, and what do i see, lots of boat owners tending to there lovely wooden masts, carefully varnishing them season after season. No thanks i want to go sailing , easy maintenance etc etc, I would defo go the white enameled route, doesnt take much away from the look of the boat and easy to maintain, and probably much cheaper.

Also i wouldnt bother with a wind gen. Spend the money on good quality solar panels instead for double or triple the power. Again especially here where the sun shines very strong ! and through summer especially july and august the wind gen hardly spins fast enough for any real power returns from a genny when compared to how much the panels return. I wish i'd spent my money on more panels !

 

[Grehan]

agree, mast
agree, solar panels

 

[WYLMAW]

Once again some great support for my predicament from forumites. Slightly made up for the telephone call that came straight from left field from one of the recomemended French artisans who was extremely cross with me for asking for a quote and wasting his time. He appeared to be speaking perfect English, I must have been listening in another language. He slammed the phone down on me. Umm. That was a bit of a surprise.

I have now had a different first 'rough' quote for 2 wooden masts. Ouch!

The first full quote for the whole job was due to be delivered or all the work on Friday - I wait with bated breath. After I have moved my daughter to a new house tomorrow (I had made plans for my life before the Gods smote my boat) I am off with HWMBO to Brittany to view the damage and meet the team. Then a cunning plan has to be developed. HWMBO keeps telling me we should treat the trip as a holiday. Last time we had a holiday like this I got meningitus.

If one more persons tell me 'Well. no-one was hurt' I swear I will draw blood. As the awful truth of the incident unravels it transpires one of the lifeboat crew was walking on the cliffs and saw the boat sailing down the Chanel below and watched the whole sorry scene play out below him, before hot-footing it to the lifeboat in the certain knowledgw the phone would soon ring. HWMBO says the handheld VHF could get no signal , but the main radio was working and so they used that. How does that happen with the ariels on the masts under the water?

Quite interested in Little Sam's idea of not to bother with a wind genny but get solar, going to look into that. Another daughter works with windfarms and huge solar farms so she is sure to know......

 

[TQA]

If you are med bound go solar, if Eastern Caribbean solar and or wind gennies.

But please plan for the solar for be tiltable and not shaded.

Fixed solar with the wind gennies mounted above reduces solar input dramatically.

 

[ukmctc]

Call your insurance company, broker first. They will then inform you of what they require, and who they want to do anything.
There are several wooden and metal riggers and mast builders in Brest and La Rochelle you won't have to move the boat I wouldn't have thought.
Good luck.

 

[penfold]

If I had to replace the masts of our classic I would go for aluminium.
The yards in the Med with facilities to pull a mast are few.
Yachts are stored with standing mast.
Maintenance of wooden spars is much more needed under the Med. sun ( The UV killing the epoxy glue ) Varnish last one season, ext..
Lots of Carpenter bees who eat big holes in vertical wood, not to mention woodpeckers.
Price of wooden spars is much higher I guess and resale value of the yacht could be a problem with wooden masts. Younger people dont understand and trust wood.
I rebuild our masts myself 20 years ago, and see that the epoxy glue has had it under this Med sun.

Success with the repairs.

Epoxy is just not UV resistant; Aerolite is far superior to epoxy in this respect.