My catalina 30 tall rig was dismasted in Baja California S= during a Hurricane in September 2016 and the mast is dmaged and twisted ; the boat has no damage ; the boat is now in the Marina Real port in San Carlos ( Guaymas ) Mexico . What can I do to repair or replace the mast . Any suggestion will be really appreciated. This is really a first in all my sailing years .My home isin Arizona and my port in San Carlos mexico.
MAST for Catalina 30 tall rig
- Thread starter giuseppe prestini
- Start date
Do you have insurance? My 1977 C30 was dsmasted this past summer. The insurance company totaled the boat. I searched high and low for a mast. The big problem was the shipping which cost more than a new mast.
Found this short rig mast
http://store.massmarineparts.com/1986-30-catalina-short-rig-mast
http://store.massmarineparts.com/1986-30-catalina-short-rig-mast
I wish I'd seen this a couple of months ago. They are close to me too. Oh well, I ended up upgrading to a newer boat. These guys do transporting. OP might get a better deal than shipping.
I lost the mast on my 1986 Catalina 30 tall rig in Katrina (2005). I looked at several options including splicing with an internal sleeve. I finally went with a new mast. I got it from LeFiell located in Santa Fe Springs, Ca. Cost was $1,475 + $400 shipping the MS Gulf Coast. I've been very happy with it. Good luck.
thank you so much for the info ; I will contact the company for information and shipping to Arizona
Had a friend in CA who tried them awhile back, seems they got out of the spar business.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,929
Ballenger Spars (http://www.ballengerspars.com/) give them a call. May be able to help. Replaced my 1974 wooden spreaders with a pair of aluminum ones they manufactured using the wooden spreaders as a model. Busy shop but great work product.
I spliced my mast by using an aluminun pipe of the right internal diameter, cutting it length wise and then adding flat plate for the sides. After cutting off the damaged section, I drilled holes on both halves and slipped the sleeve in. Made sure the track was properly aligned and did some spot welding. Then proceeded to do slug welding on all the holes, completed the weld around the mast, welded new spreader support plates for a set of spreaders. Made up for the shorter mast by adding a piece of mast to the bottom. There you do not need a track. Living in the Virgin Islands, this was the cheapest way. The total including the grinding, sanding, preping the whole mast and spray painting came to $2000.
I have raced her in winds gusting to over 30 and not one single worry.
I have raced her in winds gusting to over 30 and not one single worry.
During their hay day Catalina must have used 20 different extruding machines / vendors to manufacture their mast and booms, it is incredibly lucky to find perfect matching mast for your add-on piece which we installed on top of the our mast.
The added length for a tall rig happens above the spreaders.
First, we found the best looking / fitting matching standard mast and add 2' at the "top"
Second, built a T-bar w/ added shim that can be ground down (see attached pic) for adjusting that fit the slug track tight and perfect assuring a smooth hoist;
We then champ down both parts down using two 4" x 4 x 3/8" thick aluminum angle 3-4ft lg on both sides of the mast using hog jaws or 11R Vise grips assuring a perfect line; " do not use angle "iron", this will transfer / impregnate carbon into your aluminum mast and may cause rust before during and after painting.
Slide the t-bar and shim together back and forward as if it were the slide slug, " perfectly smooth transition, Very important!
Third, we purchased 3/16"x 6' - 12" long type 6061 T6 aluminum 3-4" flat bar as wide as will lay flat "inside" both port and starboard sides of the mast, these are the inside fish plates.
We then drill 2ea 1.25" weld plug holes on each side; use a rose bud to preheat aluminum fish plates, bevel the weld joint 45 degrees out approx 1/4" each side and then made one large pass using 5183 filler rod, we then ground down the welds down just a bit to blend nicely. (see attached pic) A 25 year experienced welder will know what to do here".
Be ready to compromise a little quality on the overall finish product due to the mismatching mast.
Once complete, painting the mast will disguise the splice quite well. Awlgrip all the way, one coat per-primmer, two coats primmer and three coats paint , hard first sand 80, second sand 180 - 220 then lightly sand using red scotch bright brand and tack rag between all coats, we used flatterer in all last three coats; wanted to make the mast, boom and spreaders appear as old as the boat. Good luck its a lot of work, simply handling the mast during all this is pretty tough.
The added length for a tall rig happens above the spreaders.
First, we found the best looking / fitting matching standard mast and add 2' at the "top"
Second, built a T-bar w/ added shim that can be ground down (see attached pic) for adjusting that fit the slug track tight and perfect assuring a smooth hoist;
We then champ down both parts down using two 4" x 4 x 3/8" thick aluminum angle 3-4ft lg on both sides of the mast using hog jaws or 11R Vise grips assuring a perfect line; " do not use angle "iron", this will transfer / impregnate carbon into your aluminum mast and may cause rust before during and after painting.
Slide the t-bar and shim together back and forward as if it were the slide slug, " perfectly smooth transition, Very important!
Third, we purchased 3/16"x 6' - 12" long type 6061 T6 aluminum 3-4" flat bar as wide as will lay flat "inside" both port and starboard sides of the mast, these are the inside fish plates.
We then drill 2ea 1.25" weld plug holes on each side; use a rose bud to preheat aluminum fish plates, bevel the weld joint 45 degrees out approx 1/4" each side and then made one large pass using 5183 filler rod, we then ground down the welds down just a bit to blend nicely. (see attached pic) A 25 year experienced welder will know what to do here".
Be ready to compromise a little quality on the overall finish product due to the mismatching mast.
Once complete, painting the mast will disguise the splice quite well. Awlgrip all the way, one coat per-primmer, two coats primmer and three coats paint , hard first sand 80, second sand 180 - 220 then lightly sand using red scotch bright brand and tack rag between all coats, we used flatterer in all last three coats; wanted to make the mast, boom and spreaders appear as old as the boat. Good luck its a lot of work, simply handling the mast during all this is pretty tough.
Attachments
My mast broke at the spreaders. The reair was done cutting off one foot total from both sides. It included the spreader base. After trimming the end for a perfect fit, we drilled 10 1" holes to do slug welding after installing a hime made sleeve.
We got a 4' aluminun pipe and after slightly reducing the OD to match the mast ID, we sliced it down the middle. The mast front anf rear have identical radious. We welded flat plates to the half pipe and we had a sleeve. After inseting the sleeve and joining the two parts of the mast we aligned the sail track and after a few tack welds, we completed the slug welding. We added a piece from a broken mast that very closely matched the mast but without a travk.. It was done with a sleeve below the boom where a track is not needed. Plates were welded to the mast to accept a new set of spreaders. The total cost was close to 2,000. Much cheaper than finding a mast and shipping it to the Virgin Islands.
We got a 4' aluminun pipe and after slightly reducing the OD to match the mast ID, we sliced it down the middle. The mast front anf rear have identical radious. We welded flat plates to the half pipe and we had a sleeve. After inseting the sleeve and joining the two parts of the mast we aligned the sail track and after a few tack welds, we completed the slug welding. We added a piece from a broken mast that very closely matched the mast but without a travk.. It was done with a sleeve below the boom where a track is not needed. Plates were welded to the mast to accept a new set of spreaders. The total cost was close to 2,000. Much cheaper than finding a mast and shipping it to the Virgin Islands.
Just stumbled on this thread but I have heard of people using the following company to make a new mast & Rigging setup. Not sure what your dimensions would have be but its worth a phone call.
https://www.dwyermast.com/default.asp
https://www.dwyermast.com/default.asp