mast corrosion

[Barry]

I recently discovered, to my dismay and great disappointment, that the base of my keel stepped mast is corroding. I took an unexpected jibe last week and later noticed that the stays were looser than normal. Upon inspection I discovered that about 4" of the base of the mast is corroded. I noticed a small, 2-3" crack in the forward part of the mast where it is stepped on the keel. Does anyone know of someone who can pull the mast, and repair the lower section. I was told that a foot or so of the mast could be cut off and a sleeve could be inserted, welded, and put back as good as new. I would hate to think of replacing the entire mast. I am located on the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay near Deltaville. Any Ideas are greatly appreciated.Barry

 

[Brett Stevenson]

Mast Repair in Deltaville

Bay Area Rigging in Deltaville did some mast work on my 78 H30, and did a nice job. You will need to find a yard to haul and step the mast, so that the rigger can get to work. Deagle's on the Piankatank side or Deltaville Yacht Yard on the Broad Creek side have both done work for me and I wa very pleased with both. I think Deltaville Yacht can step the mast in the water if you don't want to haul. Good luck.

 

[Ed Schenck]

One possible solution.

A friend and regular contributor to this site had the same problem(H37C). He cut off about four inches then had a new step fabricated. The new step is four inches higher to make up the difference. This has the advantage that the mast base no longer sits in the bilge water. And you get a new base which is probably in worse shape than the mast. You could do this without completely removing the mast. I would, however, so that I could check the rest of the rigging. If the mast was that bad what about the chainplates?

 

[Mike]

Keel stepped?

I have a '79 H30. My mast is deck stepped, with a wood compression post sitting on top of a steel I-beam, which sits on the keel. Is this your configuration? What exaclty failed? There have been numerous posts about the I-beam corrosion, some include detail descriptions of a fix.

 

[Thad]

Which model do you have?

The 74-83 H-30 is a deck-stepped mast, not keel-stepped, as Mike pointed out. What year was your boat produced? If the steel support has corroded to the point of collapse, I'd suggest you get the mast down ASAP before it does considerable damage to the cabin top. Good Luck!