about 30 years ago, I was helping a friend bring a coronado 32..I think it was...from Galviston to Ft Myers in a
single passage...we were young;-)... the winds were close to 15 knots out of the NNE. We stayed a ways off shore to keep the
wind...so I think it was 80 to 100 miles off as we rounded towards the south the mast broke at the spreaders. It hung for a few minutes...which seemed longer... we let the
sheets go right away manage to get the Genie down without too much damage and then the top piece of the mast came down. the lower shrouds stayed in place, not sure how that happened...long time ago...as the top piece came down it ripped the main at the luff. we managed to clear up the mess. We didn't have much
fuel and probably could have made Dog island or Crystal river. No yard in either pace. we took a chance and I shimmied up the mast with some line and was able to tie it off and then rig a fore and aft stay with a makeshift pulley set up for halyards. Taped and died the Genie to the boom and used a
storm jib at the
head. We sailed at about 4 knots with the wind off our quarter to Tampa bay bought
fuel and motored down to Ft Myers. We found a used surplus down near Naples and got an other mast. I fixed the hole in the
deck the mast head caused and had to go. He finished the task and ended up refurbishing the boat and
sold it for a small profit. It was exciting to say the least, we had some cuts and bruises, still have a scare on the back of my leg where a strand of a stay stabbed me on the way back down the mast. I inspect the spreader area on the mast for
corrosion, these days. To me that wasn't the worst tho. there was a knock down and sinking in a 23 ft
irwin in Tampa bay in the '70s won't go into that embarrassment. All of it due to lack of experience and fore thought and a good measure of EGO. I must be tuff as I was sure dumb, back then. The immortality of youth, ahi?