Need Help Replacing Mast Step Plate & Insert

[Cabby]

Hello,

It is going to be a great season coming up. We have a slip in the Santa Cruz harbor for the first time. We have a new (to us) 2001 9.9 Honda outboard that runs fantastic, and new Sunbrella material to make covers on the way.

NOW the problem. During some of our trial and tribulations of stepping the mast every time we wanted to sail, we had some mishaps and the step/plate/hinge assembly got a bit distorted. So last year I ordered a new plate and hinge assy from D & R and knew at some point we would change the plate. I have removed the screws, some came out ok, but 3 of them broke off at the heads. I have drilled those out. I can not get the old insert out of the mast. I have beat it quite a bit but it has not even budged a millimeter.

Are these press fit into the mast? I thought of using heat to try and expand the mast section, but a bit reluctant as I don't want to change the strength properties of the mast. I am not sure if that would happen or not with heat applied from a small propane torch?

Has anyone replaced this plate assembly and has a few tips?

Thanks

 

[Joe11688]

The mast plug should just slide right out of there. It's probably corroded. Perhaps you can soak it in hot water by leaning the mast up against something at an angle that will allow the bottom to soak. Heat is definitely the key but a torch is a little too drastic for the mast. You may need to keep banging away at the the area with a rubber mallet until it gets free of the mast. I think it's just a little corrosion that is preventing it from coming out.
You're fortunate that you were able to get a mast casting for your mast. I had to make one up last year for my Z-Spar Mast out of Trex. The corrosion at the bottom of my mast was so bad that I had to cut 2" off the bottom of it last year. This year I have built a mast extrusion out of Trex and PVC Foam Board.

You need to come up with a better plan for raising your mast. Do you raise it over the bow or the stern? Maybe you could built a Gin Pole like the one I built for my boat. Good luck!
Joe

 

[teacherspet]

Cabby,
I noticed you have a pad eye attached near the bottom of the mast that may be screwed into the old insert. I would remove that and the other block that may be also screwed into it.

 

[Cabby]

Thanks for the reply's. Yes I did remove that pad eye screw. I finally did get the insert out. I had to beat on it for quite a while, but once I saw just a little bit of movement, I knew I would succeed. The old insert was actually about 3/8 " longer than the newer replacement. The biggest problem was the corrosion, over 30 years of it. I still was the winner.

Joe we do use a method of raising the mast from the front. I was from one of the members here, I think Recess with a A-Frame out of conduit method. It worked well when we followed instructions to a tee, but when we tried to do so by memory, we had a couple of mishaps.

I will be replacing the #8 or # 10 screws with 1/4 " so next time hopefully no screws wil break in the future if we need to pul that plug again. Along with the new insert, I am rewiring the mast, including adding foam pipe insulation to stop any wire banging noise from the wires inside the mast. We also will add a mast deck plate organizer to attach our blocks to. Lots of nice improvements.

Thanks again guys!

 

[RichBone]

Think about using nylon wire ties to silence the wires. About every 4' or so put three fairly long ties on the wires 120 degrees apart. Good luck with your boat. I often wonder how the fixed keel sails compared to my keel c/b.

Rich

 

[Cabby]

Hi Rich.....actually it was your method of stepping the mast that we used. It works very well when we followed the directions, but we tried to do it from memory and the mast fell a couple of times. I hate to admit that, but it did happen. The mistake we made was to secure the jib halyard (which is the line we use to attatch to the a frame eye bolt) to a deck cleat and not the mast cleat.-----DONT DO THAT !!!! no one got hurt, but so much for not following directions. Unfortunately we distorted the step plates as the 31 ft mast slammed down.

It is ok as our step plate was an older version where the hinge pins were 2 different sizes, a 3/8 " and a 1/4" diameter. The newer ones have both pins at 3/8 " diameter - check out the pictures above. It will be a welcome upgrade.

Thanks for the tips on using cable ties on the wire slapping issue. I will check that out and see if I can feed all my wires in the mast as a bundle. I am running coax for the VHF up the mast along with the anchor light and a possible wind meter cable. The steaming light goes half way up with the bundle. Cable ties are a nice inexpensive solution.

 

[Joe11688]

Cabby, if you need to replace the coaxial cable in your mast, check out some sites for it on the web to get a good price for it. I waited till the last minute and bought 30' of Coax at Worst Marine and they zinged me $1.99 a foot for it. I called and looked all over the place locally for that cable in long lengths and nobody had it.
There's a site called GI Joe's on the web that sells it cheaper than WM. I was in a hurry last summer and needed it "yesterday".

A couple of the guys at the club with an O'Day 25 and 26 raise their masts from over the bow. I guess you just need to take your time and be careful. Keep the wind coming toward the bow and the boat level and you should be OK. It helps to designate someone to hold and guide the roller furler as she goes up.
Good luck with that!
Joe