1973 coronado 23'

[Blake Rockwood]

Hi everyone. Im new into sailing and have been looking for a sailboat with a trailer for a few months now. I looked at a pretty nice 1973 Coronado 23' today. It's been stored in a covered shed and comes with a very nice trailer. It appears to be in very good shape but there is one thing that concernes me. The mast which is sitting on the ground next to the boat looks like it is two pieces. It seems to be joined together at the spreaders. I lifted it and pushed and pulled as much as possible and it did not move or flex. The owner stated he thought this was normal and has had no problems with it but im not sure. Dose anybody know if this is normal? Was this somthing the factory did to aid in shipping or maby an acceptable repair. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks alot...Blake...

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Blake.

[Jim Cate]

Blake, many masts are produced in two sections and spliced together. Various reasons (shipping, extrusion availability etc) but usually these spliced masts are associated with larger yachts than your subject 23 footer.

If the splice (or repair) has been done correctly there is nothing to worry about. Your instinctive testing ("pushing and pulling") is a reasonable rough test. If you observed no motion in the join, and there are no signs of chronic motion it is likely just fine.

Good luck with it.

Cheers,

Jim

[Blake Rockwood]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Blake.

Thank you for the greetings. It's good to be here.

[Blake Rockwood]

Thank you Jim. Im glad to hear that this is sometimes a standard in the industry. I guess this could not even be the orignal mast. I will check into it somemore and then make a decision. So glad for this site and for your help. Im sure I will be using it alot in the future. Thanks again...Blake...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Blake,
The best repair would be a smaller section of aluminum inserted where the split is and then the two pieces slid over that section and pop riveted or machine screwed in place. Welding more often weakens the extrusion.
If the price is right and the boat looks clean and well cared for it shouldn't be a deal breaker.
kind regards,

[Blake Rockwood]

John. Thanks so much for your input. Yes I will check for the inserts you are talking about. There are pop rivets in the area that hold the spreader mounts onto the mast that could also be holding the inserts in place. They look to be in good order with very little oxidation. I will give it all a better look durning my next inspection. Im sure I'll have many more questions but things are looking good with this boat. (getting excited) The advice I have gotten has really helped. Thanks again. I will keep you all updated...Blake...