Thoughts on Mast Paint

[cburger]

Prior owner of my boat had the mast painted, as the mast is off the boat I wrapped the stick in bubble wrap and plastic to protect it while it was on the yards mast rack for the last number of years. Of course the wrapping has started to come loose and due to handling of other gear on and off the rack the new paint has been chipped in a couple of areas. When I inspected the damaged areas more closely it seems that no primer was applied prior to painting, which starts me thinking that the prep for the paint was probably poor, no etching, primer etc. Once this boat goes in the water this season I want to start finaly enjoying it and not have to come back to taking down the mast to strip and paint a failing coating. So I have been contemplating stripping the mast and boom down to bare aluminum and not repainting. Outside of a cosmetic issue is there really much to be gained by paint on aluminum?

[SaucySailoress]

Yup.. We're strippin ours next time the boat's out of the water. Paint is a nuisance - it hides the mast - and you need to be able to see any visible signs of wear or damage.

[atoll]

may be want to be little careful before stripping off the paint,a lot of older allumilium masts were un anodised,the paint providing an air barrier that stopped surface corrosion.

a bare un anodised mast once exposed to salty air will quickly turn grey and form a chalky alluminium oxide surface layer,that can become badly pitted in areas.

reccomend patching or repainting using etch primer on bare alloy,then epoxy primer,then two pack polyeurathane or awlgrip.