Another alternate to noodling?

[BlueRunner]

I'm basically a lazy guy and don't like the thought of trying to cram noodles/foam into the mast/boom.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried PVC pipes with the ends capped off. I would appreciate any thoughts about trying this method. The down side may be a little more weight, but with a sealed system, I would think it would still be positive floatation. Sure would be easy to install. A little duct tape around the ends should keep it from rattling too much from with the mast.

Today i saw some PVC that was 2" in diameter.

 

[KandD]

I'm assuming you need to noodle you mast, he he he, to keep from turtling? Back in my scouting days, we would tie a milk-jug to the top of the mast of our cat so that it wouldn't fully capsize.

 

[BlueRunner]

I'm assuming you need to noodle you mast, he he he, to keep from turtling? Back in my scouting days, we would tie a milk-jug to the top of the mast of our cat so that it wouldn't fully capsize.

Actually, it's just a precaution. I'm not sure anything can prevent turtling. However, with floatation, the mast should at least pop back up horizontal and then stepping on the center board should pop the boat right back up.

That said, I'm not planning any knock downs since I don't go out in any windy conditions without at least another crewmember to sit on the weather side. And IF I'm by myself, NO jam cleat sheets period.

Still, you never know when you're going to holler "NO SHEET." :cussing:

 

[BlueRunner]

Today I did an experiment with my 170 boom (which inch for inch weighs more than the mast) by filling it with a sealed PVC pipe and then laying it in the shallow lake water. The boom proceeded to do a "deep six" in 6" of water very quickly although a tad slower than with just the boom layed in the water.

By itself the PVC pipe floated, but it was mostly under water. I guess it's just too dense to be a high rider.

So, back to the drawing board.

I'm getting a new mast cap next week and intend to seal the top of the mast as much as I can and foam the bottom. Actually, my real plan is just to NOT turtle.

The plot thickens a bit. Today I received my new 170 mast cap from Hunter ($35). As mentioned elsewhere, the reason I needed a new cap was that the sleeves (wheels) are frozen in the mast cap. I've done everything I could think of to free the wheels up. Today I was looking at the frozen mast cap and detected a lot of sand in the unit which I assume jammed up the wheels. I'm guessing that the previous owner turtled the boat in shallow water into the sand. Wish I had noticed it when I bought the boat. Tomorrow I'm taking it back to the dealer to have the new mast cap installed.

For what its worth, I read somewhere here that Hunter has replaced the mast caps that have a hole in the bottom with a mast cap that is solid on the bottom (no hole for water to run into the mast through the mast cap). My brand new replacement mast cap has a hole in the bottom.

 

[Edwin14256]

Try a Hobie mast float. Thought I had noodled my mast enough, had a knockdown, mast filled with water and the boat turtled. Don't skimp. I wasn't planning on going turtle either.

 

[BlueRunner]

Try a Hobie mast float. Thought I had noodled my mast enough, had a knockdown, mast filled with water and the boat turtled. Don't skimp. I wasn't planning on going turtle either.

IF your boat is not in the water, any chance of a photo with the Hobie mast float attached?

My mast cap is very small and I don't see how you were able to attach a Hobie mast float to it.

How did you upright the boat and was it a single handed operation? I'm guessing that IF the centerboard stayed down (locked in position), all it would take would be to climb up on the center board and once the centerboard was slightly down in the water, the boat would continue to right itself. Also, curious as to whether you had an outboard motor attached and if so, did it "water up"?

 

[nversandi]

Hello all,

On a similar but more detailed note, how did you get the mast cap off? I want to foam my mast with a spray, but the cap seems bolted to the mast. So before I come up with my own way and breaking it, is there a special tool or technique?

Thanks a bunch,

Nick

 

[BlueRunner]

Hello all,

On a similar but more detailed note, how did you get the mast cap off? I want to foam my mast with a spray, but the cap seems bolted to the mast. So before I come up with my own way and breaking it, is there a special tool or technique?

I let a "pro" take my mast cap off. It's a very simple job from watching him. First, he drilled out the 2 rivets (one on each side. The cap is a very tight fit. He then lightly tapped on the cap and the side of the mast to work it off. I'll let the experts tell what to do next for the replacement options. My guy put in 2 new rivets. I think you can rent a rivet gun at any tool rental yard.

You probably could also get by with a couple of sheet metal screws in place of rivets. Now to your reason for removing the cap. I also elected to foam. I got some stuff at Home Depot. I didn't have a lot of time as I was interrupting the workman. So, what I did was stuff some newspaper down the mast to act as a "stop" for the foam. I then gave the mast a shot of foam, stopping about an 1"-1.5" from the top. Big mistake! The mast cap was then replaced and I pulled the boat back home. When I got home, I took a look at the cap and was shocked to see that the foam had expanded through the hole in the bottom of the cap and was engulfing the sleeves (wheels). This whole procedure was to replace my mast cap that had frozen sleeves.

I quickly grabbed my WD40 and sprayed the wheels along with digging out as much of this foam as I could. Luckily it was still in the semi-sticky state. I was able to clean out all or most of the foam that squeezed by the hole in the mast cap. If I had it to do over, I would have jammed the newspaper further down the mast and the sprayed foam down to maybe 3" or more from the top of the mast. I would then have jammed a couple of pieces of cardboard down on top to help prevent the foam from going through the top of the mast.

I read somewhere here that Hunter was now using solid mast caps, but I don't think that's true as I used a new mast cap that I ordered from Hunter about 3 weeks ago.

Anyway, if you have a hole in your mast cap, be very careful about foam coming through it and freezing up your halyard wheels.

I suspect that I have a totally sealed area in my mast cap now.

A further note to anyone "turtling" close to shore. My boat is a '08 model that the original owner only kept for a few months before returning it to the deal for a consignment sale. I suspect he turtled the boat, driving the mast into the sand. There was a lot of sand in the mast cap that froze up my sleeves. Nothing I could do would free them up. Hence, the reason for the new $35 mast cap from Hunter.

The moral is that IF you do turtle into the sand, you should try to clean the mast cap out immediately to prevent frozen sleeves.