on an exceptional voyage after labor day with my 1966 daysailor, my port stay broke & i was demasted. the purpose of this post is to tell the story & thank the generous crew of "fine wine". brett & steve for their assistance. on 9-1-03 i left elk neck & began a long planned sail to annapolis. after weathering a powerful storm the first night out, i made annapolis in 2 1/2 days. fri. 9-5th, i started sailing back north with sunshine, whitecaps, & a delightful 15 knots from the north. after a hard days' sail, i made eastern neck south of rock hall & anchored. in the morning i woke to a horrific site. my multi-filament wire port stay was shredded down to 3 strands & the mast was about to fall. I quickly ran up the jib & tied the halyard tight to a midship cleat. the mast was solid as a rock & i was the happiest jerry-rigger on the bay. with anchor weighed & sails set on a beautiful light north wind saturday, I tacked toward my distant car & trailor two days away, frequently checking the halyard/stay. about 3 hours later the mast started to bend to the starboard at the hinge plate. confused, i watched the midship cleat pull out of it's fiberglass attachment & fly into the water with the mast, boom, jib & main. with a non working outboard, i was dead in the water. fortunately i was not hurt by the crashing rigging & the hull was not taking on water. i shot off two flares & lit a cigarrette. to my surprise & delight a bay work boat made for me & helped get the mast, boom & sails onto the boat so i could be towed. i had a friend at a marina 6 miles north at fairlee creek on the eastern shore. beautiful sailboat heading south came along & asked "captain, do you you need a tow". going hours out of their way, they unselfishly towed me all the way to great oak where i spent an exceptional night & sunday before being driven the rest of the way to elk neck to pick up my car & trailor for the return to great oak. hauling out the "rose'at the ramp. I derigged her & drove home to Philadelphia.i can repair the damage to the mast in a few hours with a few hundred dollars of my parts from rudy & will be on the water for fall winds soon.my rofound thanks to brett & steve of the good ship "fine Wine". o'day 27', 1986. please contact me if you know these fine sailors so i can thank them properly