Stay Replacement Costs and Advice

[Muscongus]

I am hauling my boat out tomorrow and am planning to go through her before next season to make sure she is in great shape.

Since I do not have an unlimited budget for my little sailing passion, I need to get the most bang for my buck and take care of safety things before too much accesorizing.

I have been told that stays should be replaced every 10 - 12 years. Is that accurate? Can I have someone come test them? How would I go about getting new ones? What is a reasonable price for them?

I am trying to get some form of budget number together for the projects. The boat is a pretty '69 Bristol 24.

Thanks,

Dan

[jrogers]

Hi Dan,
Fixing the things that can sink the boat or kill you makes good budget sense. Get a good jeweler's loop and a copy of Brion Toss's book "Rigger's Apprentice" and check them yourself. The terminals or swages for cracks and deformation, and the wires for breaks and rust. If you see anything that worries you you could then hire advice or replace it yourself. Pretty boat!

Good luck,
John

[Hudson Force]

You can remove your suspect shrouds and send them out to be replaced or pay two to three times the price to have a rigger do this for you in a boat yard.

[Muscongus]

Thanks guys

I just ordered The Riggers Apprentice off Amazon - thanks for the info!

If I don't have to replace them, I see no reason to. But, if it is any reason for concern, I want to take care of it over the winter.

I will be replacing the sails, maybe doing a little coring at a couple of the life line stanchions (need to check two), checking all the hull penetrations (& repairing if needed), painting top & bottom.

I'll be adding a solar panel (that I already have), too.

I want to add a new anchoring system, too, & would like to add an inflatable so I don't have to tow the dinghy.

If I can do all that, I want to add a chart plotter and a sound system that we can use an ipod with.

Somehow, I think I'll have to make some choices! :-)

[roverhi]

If you are going to keep the boat rerig it yourself with Norseman/StaLok terminals. Won't cost you anymore than having a rigger make up swaged wires and way cheaper than having a rigger come down and do it. Defender has the terminals and wire if you can't find a better deal.

Highly reccomend pulling the chainplates and inspecting. Masts go over the side from chainplate failure as much as swage or wire failiure.

[Muscongus]

I am planning to pull everything off her before painting. I'll rebed and take a good look at all of it. Should I be worried about metal fatigue that I don't see with the naked eye?

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by Muscongus

I have been told that stays should be replaced every 10 - 12 years. Is that accurate? Can I have someone come test them? How would I go about getting new ones? What is a reasonable price for them?

Dan,
Replacing standing rigging every 10-12 years may make sense if you're sailing in the tropics and planning to cross an ocean. For coastal cruising in Maine, especially if your mast is stored indoors over the winter, you could easily go for 20 years or more without worry. Having said that, if you have the original standing rigging from 1969, it may be time to replace it. Swageless fittings like Norseman or Stalok are a good idea, even though they are fairly expensive. Defender is a good sourse of parts, also Rigging Only. If you need rigging service, Maloney Marine Rigging on Southport Island near Boothbay does very fine work.

[Stumble]

If you do need to replace everything, I would also suggest calling John Franta at Colligio Marine to have his quote you synthetic rigging. Prices can be significantly less than wire, and the weight savings is pretty substantial.

[gjordan]

For a boat your size look into a Nico Press tool, and do it yourself. Much cheaper than staylock etc. West Marine sells the tool for 57 bucks and you can do the ends on your halyards also. I did my Contessa 26 and after 9000 miles ( mostly in the tropics) it had no problems. There are a few rules to follow , but it is not brain surgery. Good Luck.____Grant.

[Sam Plan B]

I bought a Columbia 41 built in 1974. It had been on the hardstand most of its life so I was not much concerned about replacing the standing rigging. Then I exchanged a few emails with a C-41 owner in Michagan. He had an upper shroud failure a few summers past. It seems the freeze-thaw cycle works on the wire terminals and caused them to loosen over time. Water runs down the wire and into the terminal then freezes. So, I had my mast pulled and sent all the standing rigging to the local West Marine rigging shop to be duplicated. What came back is absolutely better than the original. It cost about $2k, as I recall.

[Kalinka1]

Replaced all my rig this past spring used stay locks and had a couple of Norseman's that I reused. Also reused my two uppers as lowers. Took about 4 hours hardest part was getting the terminals onto the wire. Found a spool of wire at West marine on sale. do it yourself and you will know how if something needs changing later. have fun.

[Muscongus]

I have a hydraulic crimper for attaching lugs on various wire sizes. I could likely crimp the connections if I need to.

I don't know if the mast has been stored inside over the past winters or not. There is a bit of rust showing at the lower turnbuckles which makes me a bit concerned.

My imtention is to go through the boat this winter/spring and make her good as new (so long as I can afford it, anyway!).

[Jim Cate]

Dan, if you are using 1x19 wire, it is not good practice to wrap it around a thimble and use Nico-press sleeves to secure it. If you want to use that sort of termination, you should use 7x7 wire. However, this wire has much more stretch than 1x19 and would not work as well in rigging.

There are good reasons why teh vast majority of modern boats are rigged with either swaged or mechanical terminals on the ends of 1x19 wire...

Cheers,

Jim

[Stumble]

Nico press sleaves are a terrible idea for standing rigging. It's absolutely the wrong part for the job.

[gjordan]

Hey Guys, we are talking about wire sizes for a 24 foot boat, which is pretty small stuff. There were pull tests done on 1by 19 wire useing nico press and it came out almost the same as swedges. I agree that thicker wire wont bend around a thimble, but we are not talking about a 40 foot boat. I like Norsman and staylock, but they are not needed for a 24 foot boat. Let the arguments begin!______Grant.