Replace the mast? Replace the boat?

[SV_BlueTurtle]

We had intended to depart from Boston for the Bahamas in a few weeks, but given my suspicions about the quality of work done by our former "rigger", I paid New England Yacht Rigging for a full inspection this week. They found a huge number of issues with the rigging work done, but the most critical was that the mast was apparently dropped onto its spreaders - likely when we had it down for a spreader upgrade from wood to metal.

We've found that the mast itself is deformed (dented in) in at the spreader, sufficiently damaged that NEYR was concerned about catastrophic failure while offshore. They are suggesting that we bite the bullet and replace the mast.

We're waiting on the estimate, but we're considering a new Selden aluminum mast, new standing, a new boom, and adding a vang.

The boat is a heavily refit 1974 Pearson 35, with a new motor (<20 hours on it) and fuel tank, new sails, running rigging, electronics, upholstery, ground tackle, windlass, winches, brightwork, wiring, 810ah Dakota lithium battery bank, solar arch + panels, externally regulated 120amp alternator, radar, running lights, and dinghy + motor.

My list of major outstanding projects:

• Add hot water heater
• Insulate+add refrigeration system to icebox
• Add a watermaker
• Add a wind vane
• Remove the improperly installed toe rails, glass the hull-to-deck joint, and install bulkwarks
• Remove the original lights, fill/fair/glass the openings, and install 8x opening ports
• Remove + fair original all-fiberglass hatches, add modern opening hatches
• Replace the centerboard cable, inspect and refurbish the pin+pivot system as needed

I'm leaning towards replacing the rig, and continuing to chip away at her. My rationale here is that $30k-$50k more work on a boat I known intimately well is more sensible than buying a ~$75k boat with unknown problems, but before we pull the trigger, I'm curious what others think.

We're planning to cruise coastally next summer in New England, then take the ICW south next fall, spend the winter in the Bahamas, and keep sailing for however long it's fun.

Would you cut your losses, or keep restoring the current boat?

[Knotical]

Can’t it be repaired? Cut out the damaged section and sleeve in a similar one.

Or buy a used mast which will be a lot cheaper then a new one.

Some of your upgrade items seem too drastic, like why do you have to remove all port lights, glass the openings and cut new holes for them?

The yard that caused the damage - can you claim their insurance?

Personally, I won’t be putting a lot of money into that boat.

[Knotical]

Just looked on YW, there are two Pearson 35s with new engines for under 50k.

[SV_BlueTurtle]

why do you have to remove all port lights, glass the openings and cut new holes for them?

The lights on a P35 are long, oddly shaped, and fixed. Removing them, filling/fairing, and installing new opening port lights is a comfort/quality of life issue; it's been done (and even videoed) by other owners, and while a big job, we'd be comfortable doing it ourselves.

The yard that caused the damage - can you claim their insurance?

Unlikely without suing.

Just looked on YW, there are two Pearson 35s with new engines for under 50k.

We'd spend $75k-$100k if we were replacing her. The issues with the P35 that we know about and have resolved - things like replacing the mast compression block, which was glassed-in oak in 1974, and we've swapped for a laminated block of G10 - are apt to be needed to be completed anew if we simply bought a new Pearson. We have <2 year old electronics, stem-to-stern new wiring, plumbing, solar, batteries and so on - all unlikely to be present on a replacement, and in total worth more than the $30k-$40k a new Selden rig would cost.

At least, that's the argument for "keep the boat you have, finish the work, and you'll have confidence in everything".

[Bellinghamster]

Good grief, 810AH? That's a lot-o-stuff on a 35ft boat. It seems you are well into a refit, albeit somewhat in the wrong order (planned glasswork is going to make a huge mess of your interior/exterior). You'd only get pennies on your invested $ if you sell it with out a mast, and yes, most replacement boats will have some surprises and still need money and time to get set up they way you want.. If you love the boat - comfort, layout and sailing characteristics, stick it out, but I'd be inclined to look for a used mast, spend $ on new standing riggging and pare down you're to-do list to the minimum - do you really need to replace all the deck hatches? ($$$).

This is, of course, assuming you're doing nearly all the work yourself - if you're planning to hire it out, I can't see it being under $50k, probably way over. Either way, you'll not get your "refit" money back when you sell it, but if you enjoy her for a long time, it could be worth it.

[SV_BlueTurtle]

Good grief, 810AH?

We replaced 4 Trojan T105 6V house batteries, which when new gave a total house battery bank size of 200ah and weighed nearly 250lbs, with 6 Dakota 135DL+ batteries. We shaved off nearly 100lbs of weight, kept the same battery footprint, and increased our usable battery bank by ~700AH.

You're right in that we don't need that much power, but it was only marginally more expensive to add the extra 2 batteries at the time of installation (all being properly individually fused, all run to a new 2000W pure sine inverter/charger, new wires, new isolator, etc.) than it would have been to retrofit later if we decided we needed more capacity.

planned glasswork is going to make a huge mess of your interior/exterior

Ugh, we know, and you're right. We had the original toerails replaced ~4 years ago. What we discovered after the fact was that the work (contracted out, which I would never do again; I was new and made a mistake) was improperly done. The original joint was not glassed over, and the original rail holes were not all properly potted. We've put a bandaid on it (teak caulk along the rail, drilled out/thickened epoxied every visible leaking hole from below), but the entire rail will need to come off and any deck issues resolved.

I'm planning to fix it properly within the next two years.

New mast would come with new standing. The lights and hatches are comfort / cosmetics, and not urgent.

[SailingHarmonie]

If your boat is sound, and you expect to keep it for as long as you are having fun sailing, replace/fix the mast. I agree, if you can find a replacement section, you can sleeve it and have a good result, but that might not be so easy to find.

Everybody is focused on the cost of the replacement boat, and do not understand that a boat is never an investment. You sound like you are deep into this one with lots of important repairs and upgrades, and you KNOW the boat's history and systems. You will not be able to replace that for any cost.

Yes, the mast is expensive, and a significant chunk of the boat's value on the market. BUT you'll be able to go sailing as soon as the installation is done. It will take you far longer to find a suitable new boat and bring up to the standard you have on this one.

It is not that "time is money" but rather time is irreplaceable at any cost.

[Tupaia]

The chances are that if you buy a Seldon mast it will have a splice in it. I would investigate replacing the shortest section and doing a splice, keeping the spreaders and the fittings. Assuming you can match the section that is.
or

You could opt to buy just a mast section and transfer all the fittings.

[leecea]

I don't know these boats - are they a good foundation for what you want to do?

I guess YouTube "wisdom" needs to be treated with some suspicion but I wonder if you've seen the Uma videos where they stripped their 1972 Pearson 36 and found a lot of issues with the bulkheads, admittedly after they'd done a lot of ocean sailing with the boat.

[SV_BlueTurtle]

I know Uma and have seen the refit work they're doing.

Dan and Kika have a somewhat unique situation, in that (a) their boat was damaged when the floors were out ~10 years ago, as part of their original refit, and the yard moved them, (b) she was bound for being cut apart when they bought her, which is why they did the floor replacement back in the early days, (c) they have sailed her hard, and (d) they're clearly building a potential future as boat builders themselves, have alluded to it repeatedly, and they earn a good bit of income from the refit - making it viable to do this level of work.

I think the old idea that Pearsons and other classic plastic boats are inherently "super strong" is suspect - while the hulls are indeed thick, the layups tended to be of questionable quality, and bulkhead tabbing is one area that needs to be considered given their age.

With the obvious YouTube caveats, the equivalent channel for us is Beau and Brandy. They have a Pearson 35, same era, and have run into some of the same issues we have (the mast compression block, leaking port lights, etc.). Most of those have been resolved on Wanderer.

The arguably most serious issue they encountered was a hull delamination event while underway in the Carribean, starboard of the main water tank. That area is apparently a somewhat common weak spot on P35s, especially with the resin-heavy layups of the early 70s + the tank serving as a hammer when partially empty. We've sounded the hull there and we're solid, and not every P35 had the same structural issue, so while we check it routinely we seem to be in the clear for now. At some point, we'll pull the tank and replace it with a soft bladder-style tank.

[Madehn]

My vote is to keep the boat Sleeve existing mast or find a used one. It’s a metal tube. Yes there is a lot of force on it but I find it hard to believe it can’t be rectified. Might not look quite as good but should be able to be made strong enough. Yes it’s complicated but it is not rocket science. Good luck

[Reeve21]

You are already into this boat for a lot of $, it is fitted out to your liking (mostly) and it is going to cost a lot less to replace or repair the mast (and do the really necessary stuff on your wish list) than to outfit another boat similarly.

It sounds like you like the boat, so keep it. While looking her over take a hard look at the centerboard trunk. A well kept P 39 of similar vintage recently went to the bottom-- very quickly-- in rough conditions, and that is one of the possible the suspected culprits.

[wholybee]

Welcome to boat ownership!

I think you are experiencing the "sunk cost fallacy" or "throwing good money after bad" The amount of planned upgrades and work greatly exceeds the cost of starting over with a new boat. But because of your already vested time and money, it is difficult to stop and start over.

That said, might I suggest either looking to repair your mast, or replacing with used. And, much of the work you have planned could be skipped or changed. The deckjoint/toerails/bulwark and the hatches and ports in particular strike me as being expensive and messy, and might not be worth doing on a 50 year old boat, unless the boat were in very outstanding condition otherwise. You could most likely happily cruise the Bahamas without doing those things.

For $75k you could buy a 35' 1975 boat with basically no problems and in amazing condition, ready to sail.

[SV_BlueTurtle]

I doubt a new boat would have the upgrades and work done on ours - especially with the quality of components put in. That said, thanks all for your insight and input; we’re considering and will continue to do, but we’re inclined to continue to work on Wanderer.

[Fore and Aft]

SV_Wanderer a quick search on Facebook found plenty of used masts in the New York area. All you need is the mast section then transfer the best fittings on to the new section and replace the rest.
One bonus if you do install a new mast etc, is when you do sell the yacht, yours will be the one that stands out which should mean a quicker sale. I have seen that countless times where the guy who has over capitalized gets a quicker sale and higher price on their boat. They still lose a fortune, but the quick sale eases the pain.
Cheers