37C Mast Step

[Bill1565]

Posted this on the help thread by mistake.

I hope I'm ready to pull the mast. Got a torch, a jig saw 3 mallets and a crow bar. Also have socket to pull nuts off keel bolts then lift mast step if I have to.

Just got out of the sump with my dremel. Looks as though someone welded the mast to the step.

 

[Blaise]

I had the bottom three feet of the mast cut off and a new section welded in. We sandblasted the step, epoxy painted it and reinstalled it. This was 1986 and it still looks good.

 

[Bill1565]

I'm hoping for less, but we'll see.

 

[Mathurin]

haha that is an old thread you brought back, have you had a look at the one I started more recently : http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=119573

 

[Bill1565]

Thank You.

I did indeed miss this. My wife found the other thread and told me about it. Going to pull my mast later today. Will keep you posted.

 

[Ed Schenck]

I knew I had seen a more recent one but could not find it. Thanks to our adventurers that they are staying connected while heading south. That's the problem with not putting them in "Hunter Owners Mods", the projects get lost too easily. If you have used "Search" you know how hard it is to find things(sorry Phil, but it is true).

 

[Richard Shelby]

I think Kenyon still has the mast base in stock, as well as other parts:

http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/Kenyon_Spars/5280-cruising.html

 

[Bill1565]

Mast came out slickker than )9*&. My buddy with the irwin 38 took longer to get his free. Crane operator took up slack, rocked the boat p&s and it broke loose. Lifted a foot or so. Popped out the kenyon rubber collar. Photos and link to video tomorrow. Celebrated with adult beverages and typing skills are the foirst to go.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Great videos, yes plural because I also watched Mary playing the organ. Very nice!

I love your situation there. I am a bit surprised that you are permitted to have your masts next to the house. I guess you are not beholding to condo rules like we are.

I won't get to see them pull mine and put it on the truck. But I know it will not be a problem having done it twice before. The last time was Aug. 2007.

 

[Bill1565]

Don't encourage her to go back to the organ/piano/church choir. It cut badly into our cruising. I bought this boat when she re-retired.
\
Re thinking mast. Badly pitted about 2-4 " above the base. Plenty of metal at he bottom, gonna look into having a sleeve welded on.

 

[Bill1565]

wrong photo

 

[Bill1565]

here are close ups

 

[Steve Dion]

Ed: I am sure that pulling your mast is not nearly as easy as the 37 deck stepped. How is yours sealed?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Steve, all of the 37-cutters are keel-stepped. Or did I misunderstand your comment? The deck seal is a hard rubber ring that gets pounded down into a recess in the aluminum partner. Bear to get in requiring moving mast side to side with shrouds. I seal with clear silicone and have never had an issue.

Right Bill, that looks salvageable. How does the step itself look? As I mentioned, since my boat spent the first thirty years in fresh water it was not bad at all last I checked. I did move the wiring hole up higher so that I did not have to worry about the wires lying in the bilge water.

No more mention of the organ from me.

 

[Steve Dion]

Ed: I realized that the 37C were all keel stepped. My comment referred to the ease of R/R the deck stepped 37 in the photo vs the keel stepped 37C.

We have something similar on our Vision to your 37C. Have you ever experienced any leaking?

 

[Bill1565]

Step looks grungy. Gonna pull it out and clean it up. New bases at Kenyon are epoxy coated black colored. Malthrin reported $250 . I can save mine for less than that.

 

[Mathurin]

The mast base was indeed somewhere in the area of 250$ but if I had remembered better the condition mine was in I would have kept it. The base plate and mast are the anodic component from in the assembly what I've seen (meaning they are the one corroding). The base plate does corrode a little but not as much as the rest does. Mine wasn't in a bad condition.

 

[Mathurin]

humm, don't know if welding a sleeve over the existing mast is such a good idea, first it's gonna be a lot harder to pull the mast out from the deck and put it back in, plus welding will alter the properties of the aluminium (won't be T6 anymore) in the area it's welded.

 

[Jim Legere]

Welding aluminum

While Mathurin is right about welding heat changing the properties of the metal, I don't think you need to worry about that. I was production manager in a fab shop that produced equipment for fisheries and aquaculture. We regularly welded 6061 T6 and 5052 marine grade aluminum, often in structural applications, without issues. Actually, it is when you cold work aluminum (ie hammer, spin, etc) that you need to heat treat (anneal) it to avoid cracking. The top of the mast and the speader stubs were welded on your mast. Enough said.

Of more concern is the clearance you have to pass the mast through the cabin top. An external sleeve may add too much to the diameter. I think Mathurin's idea of cutting the damaged section off the bottom of the mast and building a "taller" maststep is a very elegant solution to the problem. Good luck!

 

[Steve Dion]

I think the sleeves are usually inside the mast.

My HV'36 is a 3 section tapered mast. The sections appear to be riveted together. I have no idea how they did this, but it works.

I see masts that are sleeved all the time. If you paint them, you would never know if you had one or not.