Dismasted!

[KrustyKrab]

Is what happens when you don't use your mast-raising shrouds. Trailer sailors know what I mean.

I finally got the old heap of fiberglass out of mothballs and in fair running condition. Went to the ramp to launch and while putting up the mast forgot the temporary shrouds and boom, crash, the mast twisted, went sideways and broke right off at the foot. It was only about 2 feet up from the rear support post when I realized, but I couldn't stop it from twisting. It was all over in a flash. And I had just put the mast up in the driveway for practice the weekend before. I have done it dozens of times before. But, I was in a hurry and that's when bad things happen.

Sorry to disappoint, but no video. I have attached some pics in case you have always wondered what the inside of your 23.5 mast and foot look like.

I feel like a total a$$ - because I am. I just wanted to get the old boat fixed up so that I could take my dear 9 year old niece sailing. I dread seeing the disappointment on her face this weekend :cry:

Thank goodness, though, that I found this website, because I thought that I would never find a replacement part for this 20 year old mast, but lo and behold, there it was right on this website's store. Bless you HunterOwners.com!

My plan now it to put big Dymo labels on the raising pole, support post, anchor locker, my dashboard, my forehead, anywhere else I can think - "DON'T FORGET SHROUDS YOU MORON!". That might be a good idea for my fellow trailer sailors, because the day will come when you start forgetting things or are in a hurry - so please, make yourself some labels now.

p.s. - does anyone know how to attach the new mast foot to the mast? It looks like pop rivets, but they don't look like they were popped very well. I always thought the foot was a little wobbly, now I know why. I guess those mast foots (feet?) are designed to be the first thing to fail in order to prevent worse damage to the mast, is that true?

 

[MABell]

I did the same thing. I cut about 2" off the bottom of the mast to clean it up. Had enough adjustment in the stays that I didn't have to shorten them. As for the mast foot I didn't have access to a rivet gun that big. So I drilled and tapped the foot. Used 5/16 ss bolts and washers. Been that way ever since. Mast has a slight twist in it but only notice it when pinning the foot to the boat. Once raised and stays in position all is good.

 

[jcrumpley]

Sorry to hear about the trouble. The beauty of the mast raising system on the new25 is that the solid mast struts always stay connected even when the mast is down. Whoever thought of that system was a genius.

If all the damage is what we can see in the pics, I'd say you got lucky.

 

[jblersch]

I just replaced my mast foot on my 240 last spring (mine broke where the pin inserts). I was nervous about the repair because I hadn't ever riveted anything before, but turned out it was a piece of cake. I had to drill the holes the new foot, which I expected to be difficult, but with a nice sharp bit it was easy. A few pop rivets later and the new foot is very solid.

 

[Jackdaw]

Not popped in well??

The aluminum based gave before the rivets. Looks like they held fine!

Just drill them out, and if the holes are still round, re-use them. If not re-drill.

 

[isaksp00]

Similar thing happened to me. Mast foot casting was not damaged, though - the rivets just popped, so all I had to do was re-rivet.

I opted to use the simple aluminum rivets that fit in my cheap pop rivet tool. That fitting and rivets really only have to be strong enough to hold while you raise or lower the mast (in my opinion), and the rivets probably provide no support once the mast is in place and shrouds tightened. I'd rather sacrifice the rivets next time, than the casting or maybe even worse the mast extrusion.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Krusty Krab;

I have a couple of questions here. Looking at the photo, I see a line on the inside of the aluminum on the port forward side. Please carefully look at that and tell me if it is a simple mark or is there a crack in that aluminum. Also, on the back side of the mast along the sail track, is the mast dented in. Please retake some closer photos so I can see as I will respond once I have a clearer picture.

 

[justsomeguy]

It appears to me that the line you're seeing is a remnant of the broken mast foot, still riveted in place.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I will defer until we have actual evidence or imput from Krusty as I was trained to deal with facts and not suppositions as I use to be at one time an insurance investigator.

 

[justsomeguy]

Sure. But I think you're right about the dent.

 

[KrustyKrab]

Good eye, Dave! That is indeed a dent on the starboard aft side of the mast about 6" up. However, that is an old injury from years ago due to my negligence of lowering the mast on top of a piece of hardware of some sort. It has never been a problem so I just left it alone. It does not interfere with the sail track.

But, I think what looks like a crack in the fore-port side is the remnant of a chunk of the foot that broke off. There is no crack in the mast that I can see, just a lot of dirt that might look like cracks in a photo. Here is a photo with the remnant removed (photo 2, my hand is shading this shot directly into the sun).

And, by "poorly popped rivets", what I meant was that they didn't appear to have had the internal end expanded as much as expected, or perhaps they were too long for the application, but they have always seemed loose. Compare the foot rivets (blue arrows) with other rivets holding the support plate for the mast raising pole (red arrow) for example (photo 1).

I agree, that I got away lucky for my stupidity. Is the foot designed with weak material so that it will fail before the mast will, or did I just get lucky? My new foot is on the way and I will post back on its installation. Thank you all.

 

[justsomeguy]

Those rivets were most likely just fine, until the foot was wrested away.

Isaksp00 notes their function in his post.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Krusty;

Probably stainless steel or aluminum pop rivets. not sure which. To remove them, use a sharp or new drill bit 3/16 inch and hold the inside portion with pliers and go slow. You can get the outside head off, the rest should fall to the inside. When you get the new mast foot, put it in and see if there is metal to drill thru or better yet, mark it and send me a photo to insure the foot is high enough for the original holes. If ok, then add new pop rivets but make sure they are not so long which to crimp down on so much.

If pop rivets are too long, then sometimes squeezing them tight to hold on may not happen. That could be the case here as I tend to think that from the recent photos. .
Keep me posted.

 

[jBlaze3000]

Same thing happened to me...first thought was "oh sh*t, this is bad!" but in reality it was an easy fix.

 

[Chasemixon]

it's only bad if you have to cut 6"off your mast... like I did... after I get the mast back up, I said oh crap, now all my cables are too long... I made a platform and added 4-5" underneath my mast... that made the cables the right length again... well close enough...

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Chasemixon;

Good response. Once demonstating a 260, I had the rudder head fail and of course people who wanted to go out. I cut the head off as I always took tools with me. Affixed the rudder back with a new hole drilled in it and sailed the rest of the day and noticed little affect it had with a shorter rudder. Actually two folks bought a 260 as a result. I found out that 10 rudders failed due to negligence of a new employee not building them correctly and he was let go. Often I like to hear of fixes and in your case, you get the atta boy award for creativity. As a dealer, I would not have done that for liability but you are one of the few who knows how to fix things. I would love to get a photo of that repair sent to me privately. Good going sir.

 

[Chasemixon]

Thx cdc... I'll be back on her next weekend... Will do!

 

[KrustyKrab]

Same thing happened to me...first thought was "oh sh*t, this is bad!" but in reality it was an easy fix.

Ha! Blaze, my exact thought as I watched the mast go down. "Oh ****, this is real bad, I'll never sail again".

Ok, so here are the repair photos and tips that might help someone so unfortunate in the future:

1. I cut off the old rivets with a handy Dremel (damn those cutting wheels break easy!) [photo 1]
2. New foot, same part#, has different tabs at the aft end. This will come into play later. [photo 2]
3. New foot fits, but aft tabs catch on raised seam inside mast? [photo 3]
4. Handy Dremel to the rescue again! Cut off offending part of tab on foot for successful fit. [photo 4] I figure that if the old foot can last 20 years without this tab, then I can get by without it on the new foot.
5. I suggest taping new foot securely in place before drilling, and placing blank rivets in drilled holes until done drilling to keep perfect alignment [photo 5]

continued.....

 

[KrustyKrab]

continuing...

6. I bought a $20 hand rivet gun at Lowes and used the 3/16" ALUMINUM rivets with the 1/2" grip. Never used rivets before so had to study "rivetology". The 3/16" fit perfectly in the old holes since I didn't drill them out to remove the old rivets. I don't know if it was my inexperience or cheap rivets, but some of the stems didn't break off cleanly, so I just filed them down smooth. Viola', new mast foot. [photo 1]

7. Also, small addition to my gin pole [photo 2] to avoid future trouble - hopefully

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice, and especially those who had similar "experiences", who helped me feel slightly less like an idiot.

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Looks great Krusty