Salvaging a Mast

[Steven UK]

i'm cringing at the possible responses to this post but here goes anyway. My dream boat was parked in Abaco for the passing of Dorian which claimed its mast but not much else. the mast is broken in two so would be difficult or impractical to repair. i do plan on crossing the Atlantic in the not too distant future so i want a strong reliable solution. what would be the advice for locating and procuring a mast in the Abaco islands, specifically Green Turtle Cay. i'm chartering a boat and heading there this weekend.

basically a need a good mast and i know there are lots littered around. but i don't want to go to jail for looting in the process of the procurement.

what is acceptable and what is not. i'm quite willing to contact owners of trashed boats and offer money for the parts....

helpful advice and past experience...

Best Regards Steven (Khensu).

[a64pilot]

Motor the boat to Fl. Then go about finding a mast.
It’s not much more than a days motoring.
Even assuming you can find a good undamaged mast that will work, finding and contacting the owner, and it’s very unlikely they own the boat anyway, unless it was uninsured, and then being able to remove it an install it on your boat is I believe remote.
I would if possible bring the broken part of your mast back with you if at all possible too.

[Steven UK]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Motor the boat to Fl. Then go about finding a mast.
It’s not much more than a days motoring.
Even assuming you can find a good undamaged mast that will work, finding and contacting the owner, and it’s very unlikely they own the boat anyway, unless it was uninsured, and then being able to remove it an install it on your boat is I believe remote.
I would if possible bring the broken part of your mast back with you if at all possible too.

I had thought about that... do you know of options for a used mast in Florida. I have previously been hauled out at Riverside Marina in Fort Pierce. so will likely head back that direction.

Regards Steven

[Cheechako]

With a 32' boat you may be able to find a mast. Just hard to say. But yeah, all easier done in FL... for rigging etc too. How bad is it snapped? Clean? Long messy twist? Many masts are sleeved from the start. In fact most big boat masts are near the spreaders.

[Steven UK]

Broken mast making up the lost length. Firstly I’m getting a bit gun shy I used to be a heavy user of this site before I took the plunge and started cruising. Anyway here goes nothing… I recently lost my mast in hurricane Dorian and by lost I mean it broke in half and pulled one of my intermediate shroud chain plates and bulkhead through the deck. No one repair is very difficult but I have a choice to make and I am sure several people have been through this already. I have several options for the mast as I see it. and cost is a big influence on my choice of strategy.
1. Join the mast as is but there is some twisting of the section where the sail track is. this would require an aftermarket sail track to be reliable.
2. Cut out a section of mast and splice as best I can and hope the sail runs smoothly.
a. This would require dropping the boom to make up for the loss of mast length.
b. Shortening the main sail to compensate for the loss of mast length.
c. Lifting the whole mast to compensate for the loss of mast length.
i. I can lift the mast by fabricating a new aluminum deck step.
ii. Making a spacer for under the existing deck step.

The aftermarket sail track systems seem expensive $14 per foot plus the dedicated slugs. Other ideas?
How well can people align the existing (extruded) sail track when splicing?
If making a deck step with +3” there is going to be a greater (double) turning moment on the pin joint, i.e. from the side thrust of the sail. Has anyone seen this done before. This is the force trying to push the deck step over, the joint would be moving from about 3” high to 6” high. I could make the base a little wider. But the area under the mast is very busy with the usual cabinetry and support post in the way.

[slug]

Originally Posted by Steven UK

i'm cringing at the possible responses to this post but here goes anyway. My dream boat was parked in Abaco for the passing of Dorian which claimed its mast but not much else. the mast is broken in two so would be difficult or impractical to repair. i do plan on crossing the Atlantic in the not too distant future so i want a strong reliable solution. what would be the advice for locating and procuring a mast in the Abaco islands, specifically Green Turtle Cay. i'm chartering a boat and heading there this weekend.

basically a need a good mast and i know there are lots littered around. but i don't want to go to jail for looting in the process of the procurement.

what is acceptable and what is not. i'm quite willing to contact owners of trashed boats and offer money for the parts....

helpful advice and past experience...

Best Regards Steven (Khensu).

Everything is possible I

Be aware that what you propose is an engineering challenge

Perhaps you can source a functional hurricane damage mast with similar geometry and engineered for a similar displacement boat

[Steven UK]

That would be an ideal solution if i could make it work for a reasonable price. i was all over Abaco looking for a salvageable unit but couldn't find one.

i'll keep trying...

Regards Steven

[Fore and Aft]

Hi Steven, you must have this forum confused with sailing anarchy! What about this mast below? A quick search on Craigslist shows a few possibilities. I would forget repairing the old mast, since there is plenty of used masts around.
Cheers and good luck
https://treasure.craigslist.org/bpo/...051755304.html

[skipmac]

Monkey Fist Marine at the Green Cove Springs Marina in north Florida has a couple of masts for sale. I thing the yard might have a couple as well.

[Steven UK]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Hi Steven, you must have this forum confused with sailing anarchy! What about this mast below? A quick search on Craigslist shows a few possibilities. I would forget repairing the old mast, since there is plenty of used masts around.
Cheers and good luck
https://treasure.craigslist.org/bpo/...051755304.html

When I said I’d been all over Abaco looking for a mast... there were lots of masts, just none suitable. Thanks for the heads up though.

[Steven UK]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Monkey Fist Marine at the Green Cove Springs Marina in north Florida has a couple of masts for sale. I thing the yard might have a couple as well.

I’ll look up green cove marina... thanks.

[Steven UK]

Thanks for the constructive comments, I have been looking at used masts. There are a lot out there but most are at best useless over priced junk. I’ll keep looking until it’s tome to get the rivet gun out.