S37 Mast help/info.

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May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Any one ever pulled the mast from an S37. And maybe a 34 is the same. Here is the problem. Couple of months ago broke the forestay. Offshore, jib unfurled. The mast didn't come down, but everything took a hell of a beating. Finally got it all put back together, new forestay wire, fittings, new furler, the whole shebang. Took off yesterday, for a few days of peace quiet and relaxation. Sailed over to Cat Island from Slidell, a pretty good day. Light to no winds. Motor sailed a bunch. Before reaching Cat Island, I noticed the shrouds were kind of loose, and thought I had screwed up when I tuned the rig. Not so lucky. The mast has dropped approx. two inches. An easy inspection made it obvious it had dropped. I checked the bottom of the mast at the keel, and can find nothing that looks out of place, other than the mast has dropped. I know that assumptions are the work of the devil, but I am assuming that this is somehow the result of the forestay breaking and the beating of the mast that ensued. I could easily understand if the mast was sitting on some kind of a wooden block that gave way, but the bolts do not appear to be loose, nor any space under them. As best as I could tell with fingers in the hole, the mast base is sitting on top of the keel. There is nothing that looks out of place, the bottom of the hull does not appear to be bowed or bent. No water coming into the boat. My first assumption is that whatever the mast was stepped on, has gone away, but I am somewhat bothered by the lack of any free play in the bolts or washers. Guess I am fortunate in that I had planned on pulling the boat soon as I got back to do the bottom, so at least it didn't happen after I had splashed it. Has anyone ever pulled the mast from a S37 and had a look, or have any knowledge of exactly how it is supposed to be. As usual, thanks in advance for any insights you may have.
 

BobM

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Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
No responses yet

I suggest you look for boats for sale and contact some of the owners. Someone is bound to help you out.

Good luck in a tough situation,
 
Jun 20, 2007
9
- - Pawcatuck, Ct.
Corroded mast step

Your asssumptions may very well be correct in that what your mast was sitting on has gone away -it happened to me. Your mast sits on and over a cast aluminum step that is bolted to your keel. The casting fits inside your mast with a lip that is part of the casting base. This keeps the mast in position. What happened in my case is that over time the aluminum base corrided away (.5 inch) allowing the mast to actually slide down that amount so that it now was sitting directly on top of the keel. It's not readily apparent even when your looking at the base of the mast unless you realize the roughness around the base is the result of long term corrision. I made up a pattern and had a local welder make up a new mast step from either aluminum or stainless steel (I forget now). This has all got to be done with precision as it affects mast offsets and hence stay lengths.
 
May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Mast Step

I think what I am going to do is call Rig Rite on Monday and see if I can just
buy a new mast step and be done with that part of it. I still think I will have to trim up the bottom of the mast, and raise the step some. But at least I have a direction and a plan now. Thanks all.
 
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