Mast Refurb

[swanson37]

Hello All,

My mast and spars are starting to look a little worn. The paint is bubbling in places and so I'd like to do a refurb as well as replacing/re-running the wiring, especially since I am planning to get the rigging replaced fairly soon and would like the whole thing to look good.
The mast is deck mounted, aluminium and is currently painted. It's about 14m high as well.

We have several cranes which can be used on our hardstanding including a dedicated mast crane, so we are OK from that point of view.

My questions are...

1. can we get the mast down safely with two of us? (SWMBO and myself, she's not afraid of a bit of hard work)
2. What's the best technique for the process, do we take the strain on the crane and then remove mast bolts followed by rigging or do we loosen the rigging first?
3. I plan to sand down and repaint the mast, so whats the best paint for the job?

Cheers

 

[wotayottie]

Assuming you have an experienced driver for the mast crane, you only really need one person on the boat. But when you ask questions like "do we loosen the rigging first", my feeling is that the only safe way is to get the pros to do the mast removal (and replacement) this first time so you can learn the best approach to your boat.

Masts have a finite life span - they are not everlasting. So the first question is whether your mast is worth refurbing. Bubbling paint usually means corrosion underneath - how bad is that? Has it weakened the mast?

I painted the mast with epoxy undercoat and twin pack poly top coat. I used an etching primer , but then my mast was bare metal after I had removed the anodising.

 

[tillergirl]

I have mine dropped each year and assist in the process. It's not difficult.

1. Yes
2. Get all bottle screws freed up before the crane arrives - don't waste your hire time or their patience.
3. Undo lower shrouds and any baby stay leaving mast held by forestay, back stay and cap shrouds which should be slight slackened.
4. If you have a tabernacle, its easy to let the crane lower backwards and then once lowered, remove mast bolt and use crane to re-position forward - if that's where it's staying; ditto if it will pivot back on the mast bolt in the deck fitting. In both these cases be careful as you lower that the mast stays on the central line of the boat and does not place undue strain on the tabernacle or deck fitting - it's a big lever! Have one of you holding the forestay and one of you at the mast to control this. Once the crane is (very gently) taking the weight of the mast, I always undo backstays first, then cap shrouds leaving the forestay to last. If you are doing a straight lift off the boat, once the crane has the weight, the lst thing is the removal of the mast bolt. Mark the position of the mast and mast bolt if you have a number of alternatives - it always looks different when you put it back!

Ensure you have a rope onto the crane strop to pull it down in the event of jamming - yes even when dropping the mast - you never know and have a control line to the bottom of the mast to stop swinging as the crane moves it off.

 

[William_H]

i would disagree with the suggestion that the mast might be too old.
The condition of the Aluminium will tell you if it is too old and then this is highly unlikely to be beyond repair.

You should remove the paint where it is blistering and retreat with primer and paint. I am a bit slack and only use an ordinary oil based gloss. It makes it really easy for touching up scratches damage etc. The really tough 2 pack paints can actually harbour corrosion under the paint.
You will have to decide what fittings you remove. That is a big job but under fittings is likely to be a location for corrosion. Especially around SS screws rivets etc.

With a crane the removal of the mast should not be a problem. The crane needs to lift at a point above centre of gravity to ensure the top doesn't fall if the crane lifts from too low. As suggested ropes to the top and bottom may be usefull for controlling the location of landing. Whewn the mast is down is a good time to remove the stay wires and have them replicated for replacement. So make a note if you want any stays longer or shorter than they are now then give the stays to the rigger good luck olewill

 

[steve_l]

I unstep my mast (single spreader mast-head rig with furling genoa, fore & aft lower stays) every year for winter storage using a dedicated mast-crane. The boat is still in the water alongside the crane with the crane centre line just forward of the mast.

Procedure with two people is as follows...
- Slacken all the bottle screws so that they can be easily fully slackened by hand but not so much as they become sloppy and the mast moves too far from vertical.
- Put the crane lifting strop around the mast and raise it until it is supporting the mast under the spreaders. The strop should lift from the front of the mast. This does two things, protects the windex and makes it easier to remove the forestay/genoa roller later.
- Now slacken and remove all the stays & shrouds except the fore-stay, putting the pins & rings back where they came from so that they're all in the right place when you come to restep the mast.
- Now one person supports the lower mast while the other uses the crane to lift the mast just clear of the mast foot.
- The person supporting the mast now walks carefully forward with the mast until it is in line with and alongside the genoa roller and now supports both of those while the second person removes the pin & ring from the fore-stay to the stem-head fitting. The genoa roller is now supported by the person holding the mast and also by the spreader in the middle of the mast.
- Now is a good time to collect all the stays and shrouds together which are just hanging from the mast in the water and wherever, just to keep them tidy. A couple of sail-ties is enough to hold them to the mast.
- The mast can now be lowered fully and either carried ashore (while still supported by the crane) for maintenance or placed on suitable cradles on the boat for storage.

And in true Haynes manual fashion, refitting is simply a reversal of removal

Good luck!
-steve-

 

[wotayottie]

[ QUOTE ]
i would disagree with the suggestion that the mast might be too old.
The condition of the Aluminium will tell you if it is too old and then this is highly unlikely to be beyond repair.



[/ QUOTE ]

Its surprising that people automatically replace stainless wire rope at 10 years old yet assume a mast is forever. Its just as likely to fatigue as stainless and far more ready to corrode, particularly where fittings are rivetted and when painted. So check it out carefully before covering with paint Look for fatigue cracks. And if you find them, then junk the extrusion because you cant effectively repair that sort of problem since you dont know where it might go next.

 

[swanson37]

Thanks for all your responses they are very helpful.
We'll probably give it a go on the next windless day, although the season started officially down here last weekend and most days from now until next May will be 10-15 knots from the north in the morning and 10-15 knots from the south in the evening with clear blue skies and 30 degree days (yes I am trying to make you all jealous )
We are quite lucky in the fact that there is a hand operated mast crane on the hardstand at our club and there is plenty water alongside so we don't have to worry too much about crane drivers. I was going to get the pro's to take it down for me, but I've done pretty much everything else on my boat so I figured why not this. I'll give the mast a good going over when it's on the ground as a matter of course.
Thanks again

 

[chewi]

All 90 cruisers at our club have masts dropped for winter so we get a lot of practice at this.
techniques can be slightly different from one boat to another, but the general gist is common. this applies to single spreader rigs on boats up to about 30'. (I cant help with double spreaders, 2/3rds weight above the lift point...?)

Remove all the boom, wiring etc beforehand so as not to occupy the crane too long.

Personally I disagree with the post above suggesting leave the forestay & roller, though of course he must have found his own way that works. I find they can be a pain to undo and you dont want to have that that with the mast swinging in the air, so I duplicate the forestay with a halyard down to the foredeck & cleated at the mast, then release the roller reef and hang the foot in a loop of rope tied under the pulpit (or have a 3rd hand to guide it).

Assess how a strop would behave under the lower stays or spreaders. If tangs then under tang is ok but beware jamming , if bayonets then to avoid bending them go under the spreaders instead.
That dictates which stays to leave as the last.

remove all but a last triangulation of stays, slip the strop around the mast WITH A PULLDOWN ATTACHED TO IT.

lift the strop to not quite take the strain say 1/2 inches short of it.

Remove the last of the rigging and the mast pin. the mast cannot fall down as the strop is there to catch it.

With 1 one the crane, 1 on the boat , release halyard, with arms around mast, take strain on crane, release from foot and swing mast swiftly forward to pulpit, let crane gently drop mast toward deck. weight of one adult at the foot is enough to keep control of masts on boats up to 30' loa.

Dont forget to swing the arm of the derrick back ashore so the next boat approaching doesnt have to avoid it!