Refurbishing a Mast

[nauticalnomad]

I have a 1968 built sailing yacht,
The mast is a single spreader heavy wall thickness aluminum mast.
I am looking at 35 thousand Dollars/Euros/Pounds to replace it with a new replicated mast,

My question is,
What would be the benefits of refurbishing the one i have which would entail
dismantling, sandblasting or removign the paint,
replacing all the internal pulleys etc and rewelding old welds or assessing quality of the mast itself etc once paint is off.

I am not sure how much this will cost etc as opposed to the 35 thousand a new replicated mast of new material.

The aged aluminium mast i have is heavy duty compared to anything i have seen now,

Any insight would be appreciated

[James S]

If the mast extrusions are in good structural shape and you are only talking about "refitting and refinishing" it...it wont be anywhere near as expensive as the 35,000 you mention...but I have to say that number seems very high...is that USD?

[Cheechako]

You can refurbish it fine. Are you able to repaint yourself? Strip it bare, (maybe not the mainsail track,) sand it well (doesnt have to be completely stripped if some paint is adhered well) Look for any cracks etc. Inspect the mast top sheaves and bearings. Replace the wiring inside. Pretty easy as boat projects go. the hard part is that many fasteners may break off in the aluminum. You may need (or at least want..) to get bad holes welded up etc.

[xiabbo]

I agree with above. I refurbished the mast on my 1967 Morgan 34. I used Awlgrip and it worked beautifully. Just be sure you have a really good welder who knows his stuff if you start welding on the thing.

[nauticalnomad]

Originally Posted by James S

If the mast extrusions are in good structural shape and you are only talking about "refitting and refinishing" it...it wont be anywhere near as expensive as the 35,000 you mention...but I have to say that number seems very high...is that USD?

I can handle the welding as such,
I work in the industry,
I was thinking of completely pulling it apart removing the track etc
either blasting the paint off or removing it via SS brush wheel
doing Dye penetrant and Ultrasonic inspection etc.
I have access to this through work.
The 35000 was Euros,
I want to replace all the pulley wheels and tracks etc.and rewire it as well.
I was not sure whether to remove all the old rivets or not and replace them, I guess if they arent loose dont touch them,
as drilling them out to replace them could/would enlarge the holes etc already there. of course if theres any that need replacing id replace them,

I am trying to work out whether if it costs 10 grand to refurb as opposed to 35 grand to renew
Would it be better to replace the mast for how many years a new mast will last OR would a third of the cost for example last a third of the time,
Or will it last just as long as a new one.
I have restored the boat over the past 3 years,
I am from Australia originally, Living in the Netherlands and wanting to sail the boat back home via the Caribbean. So i am wanting to gaurentee the strength and capability of the mast for the voyage,
The pricing of 35 grand is also being compared against the 50 000 US dollars quoted to ship it back from Rotterdam to Sydney

[MacG]

If you live in the NL area it can' t cost you even 10.000 Euro's to get your mast refurbished.
Apparently there are other issues. I agree a 43 foot is a bit different from the regular 35 footer. But I am curious who surprised you with the 35K quote. My 50 foot mast has been quoted for less than a 1K, everything include.

[James S]

By my converter 35gs euros is 46g USD...that just seems crazy expensive!!
If you have access to the tools/equipment to rebuild the mast at your place of work I would do that...I cant see you spending more than 5gs if you do it all your self...I'm no aluminum guru, but I haven't really heard of an aluminum mast "timing out"
I'm thinking your prices include standing rigging as well??

[minaret]

Originally Posted by nauticalnomad

I can handle the welding as such,
I work in the industry,
I was thinking of completely pulling it apart removing the track etc
either blasting the paint off or removing it via SS brush wheel
doing Dye penetrant and Ultrasonic inspection etc.
I have access to this through work.
The 35000 was Euros,
I want to replace all the pulley wheels and tracks etc.and rewire it as well.
I was not sure whether to remove all the old rivets or not and replace them, I guess if they arent loose dont touch them,
as drilling them out to replace them could/would enlarge the holes etc already there. of course if theres any that need replacing id replace them,

I am trying to work out whether if it costs 10 grand to refurb as opposed to 35 grand to renew
Would it be better to replace the mast for how many years a new mast will last OR would a third of the cost for example last a third of the time,
Or will it last just as long as a new one.
I have restored the boat over the past 3 years,
I am from Australia originally, Living in the Netherlands and wanting to sail the boat back home via the Caribbean. So i am wanting to gaurentee the strength and capability of the mast for the voyage,
The pricing of 35 grand is also being compared against the 50 000 US dollars quoted to ship it back from Rotterdam to Sydney

I've done a bunch of these, it's really a pretty easy job. I use an Aircraft stripper to strip the stick down to bare metal, one of the only jobs I like to use a stripper on. Aircraft stripper takes Awlgrip and primer right off, saves a ton of work. Then clean it up, blast it bright, etch and alodine, prime and paint. Easy.

[Wotname]

I endorse the DIY views already expressed and I would definitely remove all rivets as you need to see what is under the fitting, corrosion wise. Far more corrosion found between fittings and mast than elsewhere.

Re-riveting is not an issue and you will want to re-apply the Telgel anyway.

Removed correctly, the holes will not be damaged (or bigger); frozen threaded fasters are another matter .

[Wainui]

I was quoted $4500 to strip and repaint a 60' mast and 23' boom from a boatyard.

[matauwhi]

G'day, mate. Wainui's quote above was similiar to ours. We did it ourselves in the end. $300 each way for the crane to remove it and re-install our 70 foot mast. $200 for paint, sandpaper, etc. Most of our fitings were screwed on and already isolated with teflon backing material, so it didn't take long to strip the hardware off. Cheers

[neilpride]

Im going to replace the mast , rigging, chainplates and mast step in a c&c 42 landfall for 20000 u$ , well i forget to say , in st marteen....
35000 eu seems to me very expensive!!

[Cherp]

Originally Posted by minaret

I've done a bunch of these, it's really a pretty easy job. I use an Aircraft stripper to strip the stick down to bare metal, one of the only jobs I like to use a stripper on. Aircraft stripper takes Awlgrip and primer right off, saves a ton of work. Then clean it up, blast it bright, etch and alodine, prime and paint. Easy.

Minaret....I plan to do this next (southern) Spring. What are "Aircraft Stripper" and "alodine" and where do you get them?

[nauticalnomad]

These guys are the company,
It wasnt a direct quote for my mast as he hasnt seen it yet, But i sent him photos and explained that i was wanting to give them my mast and they give me back an exact replica.
Formula Marine. F2 Advanced Sailing Technologies.#

The guy said he had one there that he had just finished and it cost around the 35 thousand euro mark.
And yes thats with rigging as well.
Although i see this to be around the ball park figure for what i want etc.

I guess the aircraft stripper would be the go. to expose everything first,
I did have a survey on it last year and the boat yard rigger reckoned that the spreaders needed replacing he could tell that the metal was worn down.

I dont see how looking visually can tell the wall thickness of the aluminium.
Which i question the purpose of a survey on the mast and rigging when all they do is look at it etc. Especially when its painted..

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Cherp

Minaret....I plan to do this next (southern) Spring. What are "Aircraft Stripper" and "alodine" and where do you get them?

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