Painting an Aluminium Mast

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Hi,

I've got my mast down prior to rerigging and it's looking pretty tatty (but then it's pretty old). Pondering the wisdom of painting it, so looked on the Yachtpaint site and find that International no longer recommend painting anodised aluminium masts, so give no information. I'm sure there was stuff there a year or so ago, but now zilch. Does anyone have any experience of painting ally? There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of anodising left on mine, at least very little colour which may not be the same thing. My thinking was an etch primer, followed by undercoat then two-pack top coat. If I did it would I need to take all the fittings off or just the fiddly ones. Spreader fittings look well and truly fixed and not sure I would want to tackle those because there a dirty great peened over stainless studs going through them with the shroud fittings on. Any information gratefull received.

John
 
G'day John,

For the painting of your mast you are on the right track, etch primer, intercoat and top coat will work, and you don't have to remove anything that won't get stuck if painted.

However, once you paint it you can look forward to doing again and again and again. It will drive you nuts: they look fantastic when finished but the finish does not last, halyards, poles, sails and anything else that contacts the paint work will mark it over time, and you will look up and think.... Gees I only did that a couple of seasons ago and it's starting to look ratty already.

Add the cost of the extra mast stepping, the risks, the work, the worry and you might look at the cost of having it re-anodised once every 20+ years.

Bet I get flamed for this.

Avagoodweekend..........
 
Many years ago I used OWATROL(at least I think that's what is was called)on a 20' Vivacity - which you put on with wire wool then wipe off - it certainly improved the look of the mast & boom at very little cost.
Don't paint it.
 
I stripped and re-painted my mast because it was black. And a black mast is as fashionable as a kipper tie.

But before you go that route, check re- anodising. I found that it was quite reasonable cost wise. What made it impossible for me was the cost of transport. More than the re-treatment because most masts are moved as part of a boat move.

So I stripped off the black anodising using hot strong caustic soda solution. Took a great deal of safety precautions - caustic will dissolve your skin if you let it get in contact, so blinding etc is easy. Surface then flushed with water and a weak acid solution.Take care. Rubber gloves, face mask, goggles, protective overalls, keep the dog away.

Once stripped, I roughed up the surface with 80 grade and used a non etch primer from a dutch company, then sprayed with epoxy primer / undercoat and subsequently with twin pack poly topcoat.

The paintwork was as good as new 5 years later and the mast is unstepped every year. The sails went up the track way easier (an unexpected bonus) and a white mast looks better than an ali one.

Would I do it again? Probably not - I think I would work harder at finding transport to the anodisers. Painting was a fair bit of work
 
Painting a mast

I have sprayed a boom black after replacing it. The mast was black and I could only find a silver anodised one. The yacht owner wanted me to spray it.

After cleaning the mast I sprayed it with Aqua primer then sprayed it with International two part poluurethene paint.

Gave a good finish and lasted well.

A WORD OF CAUTION

I do have all the correct safety equipment for spraying two part paints. It is extremely dangerous to spray with those paints without the correct equipment.

Iain
 
[ QUOTE ]

It will drive you nuts: they look fantastic when finished but the finish does not last, you will look up and think.... Gees I only did that a couple of seasons ago and it's starting to look ratty already.



[/ QUOTE ]
Like painting a house white. A rod for your own back.
 
Thanks Fellas, plenty of food for thought! I'm quite interested in the reanodising idea, but would guess that it has to go back to a mast manufacturer for this?? Living where I do (N.Wales) that sounds expensive transport wise - I'm talking a 40ft mast here. Might look into it though so grateful of any contact details/names. I suspect I'll probably end up giving it a good scrub and see how it looks after that before making any final decisions.
John
 
You are following in the steps of Oyster Marine! I have a feeling that all of their masts are painted white with 2 pot... Personally had similar situation to you about 6-7 years ago and used etch primer & 4 coats of 2 pot white on both masts & booms, applied with jenny brushes ,so got very few runs. Still looked good when I sold the boat 18m ago.... Go for it"!
 
I repainted mine, same problem, very faded black anodised and the previous owner had already painted the boom so it really looked odd. Give international a call, they were very helpfull. They told me that it should be ok for a few years, but that they could not give their normal level of reassurance.

I etched and painted 2 part, wiched I had practiced a bit more with the thinning down first, as it went on a bit think in places, that said when it up most people doent even notice its brush painted. After two years it has some wear on the spreaders, but then I have stainless steel halyards so no surprising they would scratch thru anything. normal braided lines havnt worn it, and it only slotghlt chipped up the inside of the track wher ethe main mast slides on it, all in all impressed at how well it stands up to the abuse.

As for 'being as fashionable as a kipper tie', well if fashionable is having an AWB, then I am glad I am not (too) fashion concious. Nothing against AWBs, but when people ask what boat you have when you meet them in the bar, I just say the yellow and black one, I am guessing that wouldn't work as well if I say the white one with the silver mast.... :-)
 
One of the aluminium objects frequently painted are airplanes. I suggest you try to get information how that is done and buy the paint used to paint airplanes. I had a mast once, which was painted white with airplane paint, when I bought the ship and it looked still OK after almost ten years use.
 
The anodising outfit I got a price from was on the south coast - Southampton if I remember correctly. Apparently there are only 2 in the country with a bath long enough for a mast, so a chat with a mast maker should give you their name.

The paint I used was Hempels sourced from an industrial paint supplier (Industrial paint services, Cwmbran). Stuff used for bridges etc where quality really is important.. Available in serious sized containers at sensible prices. In fact a fair number at our club have painted their boats using it. Beautiful finish.
 
Thanks Birdseye and Wagenaar. Very useful information from you both. I've got an enquiry out elsewhere about aircraft paint and if I get anything useful I'll post it on the site. I figured that South Coast was probably the place for reanodising. I wonder if the training wheels off my sons old bike could be bolted to the mast - now that he's 16 he doesn't need them anymore!! Seriously though, it's a heck of a way to transport a mast though I seem to recall there was an article in one of the Magazines some time ago when someone did somehow fit some wheels and a towhitch to a mast and tow it behind his car. Can't say I'd fancy it though.

John
 
I have a seven meter long custom made mast trailer which unfortunately is at the wrong part of the country for you (Fife). It supports the mast at three points along it's length.

It will carry a mast up to 50ft and weighing up to 300kg behind a family car.

I transported a 50ft extrusion weighing about 100kg from Brightlingsea to Inverness behind an escort van on my trailer without any problems.(The quote I had been given to deliver it was over £700)
The weight of the trailer and it's load appeared to make no difference to the performance or economy of the van.

I would certainly not consider fixing an axle to a mast directly. I don't think it would be very stable and it would put a lot of strain on the mast.

Back to your original problem. Although I have painted a boom. That was for someone elses boat at the owners request. (The paint finish did not deteriorate for the 4 years the owner kept the boat)

But when I was sorting an old mast for myself, I cleaned it then polished it rather than paint it.

Iain
 
It seems that it is often not very expensive to transport a mast in combination with a ship. On the lorry that transport the ship there is usually room for a number of masts, besides the mast of the ship that is transported. It seems that people use this to transport masts from the Calais/Le Havre-area to the S. of France, while they take the ship through the canals.
 
Yes,

That's fine if a yacht in transit just happens to be going along a well worn path.
Just try to get one moved over an unusual route by someone who will be capable of transporting it without damage.

The cost can be quite frightening.

On an entirely different note.
This morning I have just succeeded in threading my radar scanner cable down one of the wiring conduits inside my mast.
The next thing is the scanner bracket. That will be infinately easier. Only twelve 6.4 mm monal rivets and lots of duralec.

Cheers

Iain
 
Thanks for the advice Iain, though the training wheels comment was meant to be firmly tongue in cheek! I certainly wouldn't contemplate it seriously. Even the thought of towing a 40ft trailer behind a car doesn't appeal though I did once tow a 22ft boat around the North Circular Road at rush hour before they opened the M25. But my blood pressure is almost back to normal now! That was enough for me.

John
 
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