Mast refurb

[ian246]

I have just purchased a 30' Sagitta Catamaran, been in storage for 11 years!
the flakey painted, mast has been on a rack and will need new standing and running rigging. I have stripped most of the paint off and a rigger has told me the mast looks ok. My question is 1. do I re paint it myself, etch primer etc. 2. there is a powder coater near by who can handle 12.2m length @ £500. 3. There is also an Anodizer near by, similar cost to powder coat, but can only do 12m length so would need to cut and sleeve.
What would you do?

 

[KompetentKrew]

… Anodizer near by, similar cost to powder coat, but can only do 12m length so would need to cut and sleeve.
What would you do?

Well, I would consider this third option totally out of the question.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Anodising would be better if you can sleeve satisfactorily. Lots of masts have sections that are sleeved so perfectly normal. In my opinion powder coating and your own painting will fail in a time period that would be disappointing.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Anodising would be better if you can sleeve satisfactorily. Lots of masts have sections that are sleeved so perfectly normal. In my opinion powder coating and your own painting will fail in a time period that would be disappointing.

Sleeving it could turn out to be disappointing too. It’s not normal for a Sagitta to have sleeved mast. Bearing in mind how much sail it can stand up to, the mast is going to have a fair bit of stress. Personally I’d put up with refinishing every so often rather than cut it. We seriously considered a Sagitta, but they’re a bit wide to go through our swing bridge. Lovely boat, by an underrated designer.

 

[KompetentKrew]

I thought I read on a previous thread here that anodising was no longer done, because of the toxic chemicals involved.

I'd like to get my boom refinished, so this is a helpful thread for me.

 

[William_H]

I would go for painting myself. The mast will after a while suffer from coating damage halyards etc and then you can easily repair the coating as I do on my trailer sailer each winter. ol'will

 

[KevinV]

Paint. Powdercoat is a sod for harbouring corrosion and I couldn't bring myself to cut and shut an undamaged mast.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

I would go for painting myself. The mast will after a while suffer from coating damage halyards etc and then you can easily repair the coating as I do on my trailer sailer each winter. ol'will

It was quite common a few years ago to paint the mast white using 2 pack paint.

Unfortunately, after a season or two, the paint suffered with halyard wear and weather. It meant having to unstep the mast to repair damage and wear. Fine if you unstep eash season.

 

[dunedin]

It was quite common a few years ago to paint the mast white using 2 pack paint.

Unfortunately, after a season or two, the paint suffered with halyard wear and weather. It meant having to unstep the mast to repair damage and wear. Fine if you unstep eash season.

Why should there be any halyard wear with in mast halyards?
We have zero ropes able to touch the mast. Main halyard on end of boom, spinnaker halyard on bowsprit, pole uphaul also moved off mast (round mooring cleat to avoid forgetting).

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Why should there be any halyard wear with in mast halyards?
We have zero ropes able to touch the mast. Main halyard on end of boom, spinnaker halyard on bowsprit, pole uphaul also moved off mast (round mooring cleat to avoid forgetting).

Our mast is painted white from the factory. Just for UV protection, it’s carbon, which loses it’s gloss and looks tacky really quickly. It’s still white after 20 odd years, apart from a few chips from the jib clew.

 

[ducked]

Ｗｈａｔｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｏｇｎｏｓｉｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｌｅａｖｉｎｇ　ｉｔ　ａｓ　ｂａｒｅ　ａｌｕｍｉｎｉｕｍ？

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ｗｈａｔｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｏｇｎｏｓｉｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｌｅａｖｉｎｇ　ｉｔ　ａｓ　ｂａｒｅ　ａｌｕｍｉｎｉｕｍ？

Dull and corroded. It needs finishing. 5 years ago I painted the alloy spreaders on my XOD with gloss black Hammerite special metals paint. They are still in great condition.

 

[ducked]

Dull and corroded. It needs finishing. 5 years ago I painted the alloy spreaders on my XOD with gloss black Hammerite special metals paint. They are still in great condition.

Ｓｏ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｉｎｇ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ａｌｕｍｉｎｉｕｍ　ｈａｖｉｎｇ　ａ　ｐｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｖｅ　ｓｅｌｆ　ｈｅａｌｉｎｇ　ｏｘｉｄｅ　ｌａｙｅｒ　ｄｏｅｓｎｔ　ｈｏｌｄ　ｕｐ　（ｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｌａｙｅｒ　ｄｏｅｓｎｔ）？

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ｓｏ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｉｎｇ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ａｌｕｍｉｎｉｕｍ　ｈａｖｉｎｇ　ａ　ｐｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｖｅ　ｓｅｌｆ　ｈｅａｌｉｎｇ　ｏｘｉｄｅ　ｌａｙｅｒ　ｄｏｅｓｎｔ　ｈｏｌｄ　ｕｐ　（ｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｌａｙｅｒ　ｄｏｅｓｎｔ）？

It goes dull and horrible. That is the ‘protective layer’ and it does not stop the metal being gradually eaten away.

 

[Minerva]

If it were me, I’d be asking the powedercoater how what sort of price for stripping old powder coat off and re-applying it.

Provided that is also reasonable, I’d get it powder coated with a reapplication every 10 years or so to check for corrosion.

I’ve had many bikes / car alloys / misc bits done and always had excellent results. I see no reason why it wouldn’t work for a mast too.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

I'd paint with 2 pack polyurethane.
2 pack polyurethane is remarkably tough.
My Southerly 46RS has a carbon mast, varnished with International Perfection Plus 2 pack, 17 years old, and it looks like new.
The most difficult part of varnishing aluminium and Carbon Fibre is the initial preparation and the first coat of 2 pack. Get that wrong and it will peel over time.
The last time I painted an aluminium mast was 7 years ago. It was the original mast off a very old Cousair dinghy. I used an etching primer (because that's what I had to hand) and white 2 pack polyurethane. It's still ok after 7 years of beach use and loading/unload from the road trailer.
I'd look and take current advice on surface prep and primer. Paint tech moves on, and it's easy to get stuck in the past.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

It’s a potentially valuable boat, it’s well worth the effort.