Dismasted at sea in the Bahamas, now what

[GregGarner]

One thing I would suggest looking into is the VAT tax that the bahamas charges for everything. They have a cutout with zero tax but the cutout is only for "Engine Parts". Otherwise anything you ship into the bahamas is taxed from 10% to 95% so you really want to make sure you understand how much it will cost if you source parts and have them shipped in.

Prayers for safe travels and easy repairs.

GregGarner

[psk125]

Have to agree with Emouchet. Heading to Florida isn't going backwards, it's backing up so you can get a running start for the next jump. Imagining the situation "in the islands" would be comical if it weren't so sad:
"Sure we have a mast for you. 'Oh, you said Beneteau? What I have is Jeanneau"... "The mast is in. It's only ten feet shorter than your original one. We're waiting to get terminals for the shrouds. They come from New Zealand."... "Sails? You didn't ask about sails.We don't have any sails here. Maybe they have some in St. Kitts."... "The other mast we have is in better shape. The kink is eight feet up on that one, and it's smaller."... "Sorry that the gooseneck on your boom doesn't fit on the new mast. Maybe these screws will hold it."
It may not be a fun ride, but you may be able to jury-rig something with your boom to provide a touch more stability and speed to get to Florida. There you can get your rig fixed properly. Otherwise you risk getting somewhere and ending up with a boat you can't get fixed and (without a mast) can't sell either.

[michaeld]

If you decide to replace your mast stateside, I recommend Nance & Underwood in Fort Lauderdale. 954.764.6001. Ask for Roger. He's a great person. Say hello for us from Imagine. Good luck.

[jt11791]

Originally Posted by SV_Lusca

The mast is at the bottom of the sea, it was broken in half, I only kept the boom which is also damaged but still usable. The rigging was cut to free the mast..

Sorry to read about your troubles, a rig coming down is quite a shock and no small matter to sort out. Best of luck to you getting back on track ASAP.
Trying to get a feel for the root cause of your mast failure. Did you hear anything before the mast fell? Unusual creaks, groans, etc. Loud pops or bangs?

Which direction did the mast fall? Directly to leward? Or somewhat fore or aft?
Did you have to cut all of the shrouds and stays or had one or more failed and led to the mast coming down?

Could a spreader have failed?

How do your chainplates look? Are the holes round or ovalled out? Any sign of movement at the deck?

[Fore and Aft]

Lusca I doubt you will ever see any money from Edward Williams insurance. None of my clients have ever made a successful claim against them. To me Edward Williams is another word for self insured.
Remember it's all Adventure before dementia.
Cheers

[MicHughV]

True, Insurance companies are quick to take your money but extremely poor at paying it back.

For this reason, I'd go after the rigger who messed with your rig prior to leaving. You will likely have to hire a lawyer. Yes, I know, a pain in the rear end, but having a lawyer on your side is often the motivation for the other side to co-operate.

It doesn't sound to me like the rig came down due to extreme weather conditions, etc, which would leave me to believe, it was a structural problem....a pin came loose, etc, could be any number of things, etc...unfortunately the mast is now in the water, but I see you took a lot of pics you could likely use to press your claim..

[JPA Cate]

Sorry to hear the insurer is Edward Williams, the gossip is that they are a total scam. I don't know if that is completely true, but it seems to be largely so.

Good luck with everything, Lusca. It's going to be a lot of work. If it is at all possible to locate what you're going to need closer to you, investigate that carefully. As for new wire, you will have to have that sent in, but often you can arrange for such to not have Customs fees, since you will be exporting it as soon as you leave for the hurricane season. Such arrangements need to be made in advance, with paper work.

Again, I agree with hpeer. You and your good lady can do all of this. We have used mechanical swages (Sta-lok, Norseman, SeaRig) since 1984, and trust them better than the pre-swaging you get done by riggers with their rolling machines. The important thing is measuring correctly. You may need to buy a very long tape measure, to at least the length of the previous mast. You'll need a vise, a wrench, a large flat blade screwdriver, and patience. Recommend getting compact strand rigging wire. One of our best repairs was a new forestay, done on a resort lawn in northern Vanuatu, after some friends shipped us the wire from Australia. (We had managed to salvage the furler when the stay broke at the mast head. I was 59, and Jim, 61. The point is that we are just folks, nobody extraordinary.)

Ann

[smj]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

True, Insurance companies are quick to take your money but extremely poor at paying it back.

For this reason, I'd go after the rigger who messed with your rig prior to leaving. You will likely have to hire a lawyer. Yes, I know, a pain in the rear end, but having a lawyer on your side is often the motivation for the other side to co-operate.

It doesn't sound to me like the rig came down due to extreme weather conditions, etc, which would leave me to believe, it was a structural problem....a pin came loose, etc, could be any number of things, etc...unfortunately the mast is now in the water, but I see you took a lot of pics you could likely use to press your claim..

This is ridiculous.
#1 there is no rig available to survey so the cause will never be known, absolutely worthless to spend the money to get a lawyer.
#2 the forestay was replaced and the rest of the rig tuned, read nothing else replaced?
Why try to sue someone who can’t be found guilty and may well be innocent? And we wonder why the costs for liability insurance is so high for a business.

[MicHughV]

it goes without saying that I completely disagree with you..

[smj]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

it goes without saying that I completely disagree with you..

No doubt, and your the type person I try to distance myself from.

[MicHughV]

btw...it's " you're"....and keeping your distance works fine for me...

[smj]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

btw...it's " you're"....and keeping your distance works fine for me...

And your feeling the need to correct someone’s grammar on a forum speaks volumes…..
But seriously reread 90% of your posts and look at the way you write? ……..between every sentence?
Pot calling kettle black, yet you’ve written a book so what do I know?

[Tia Bu]

This is an interesting thread. I'm very sorry for your troubles. Thinking back, it seems to me the key is to keep moving forward. Going back is a bad idea. Getting too comfortable in a holding location is a bad idea. I'm talking about psychologically. Get it fixed. Keep moving forward. I like the Turks and Caicos idea. I agree you can easily do all the work to replace your mast yourself. Finding a used mast that will work is the challenge. Probably that can be done over the phone and internet? But I wouldn't immediately write off calling Sparcraft directly in the US and asking what a new replacement would cost. I did this when researching buying a hurricane Irma wreck a few years ago and remember it really wasn't too much money and too much lead time. Good luck, and I hope you keep going! If you do, you'll be glad in years to come.

[seandepagnier]

What kind of rigging? Was it stainless steel? Were there any swages or did it have reusable terminators (sta lok or similar) ?

I have met several people who lost their mast, and it was always from stainless steel failing especially at swage connections. It seems like stainless is not a very good material for standing rigging often failing < 1 year after replacing. At least you are the mercy of the rigger with no assurance of integrity without an xray machine and failure is unpredictable.

Before going in the ocean, I remove all stainless rigging wire and replace it with something better like galvanized wire (25 cents a foot) or dyneema. These will at least show visible signs before failure generally. I put bronze chainplates as well a few times but I finally figured out how to cut titanium (not easy to work with) so it will cost me $30 per chainplate... but there are still points of failure. It would be interesting to know exactly what failed, let everyone know, and avoid that issue in the future.

[El Pinguino]

In my experience the problems that can lead to loss of mast invariably involve the lowers.

Listed here are issues that have occurred on my boat.

It can involve an **exploding** turnbuckle.(1993) This happened before I bought her and I am not sure exactly what part of the turnbuckle failed, I was only told about it after the second event.

It can involve a failure of the actual T-ball fitting where it enters the mast.(1994)
Out of sight and would only have been spotted by removing the standing rigging and inspecting it when off the mast.
This cost me the rig.
The rigging was 8 years old with an SCE ( Single Circumnavigation Equivalent ) and a half on it.

It can involve failure of a chainplate where it passes through the deck.(2014)
Due to reports of other failures on same class yachts I replaced my 24 year old ones in 2010.
One failed four years later after about 15k miles or so.
I suspect inferior grade stainless.

Or it can involve broken strands where they enter a swage. (2016)
I discovered three broken strands at the top swage of a lower after 13,000 miles.

This all occurred within a 'new standing rigging every 10 years' regime.
I now have beefed up chain plates that I know are the right quality, tangs at the mast and no swages on the lowers.