Stepping the mast

[Joe Dickson]

I have noticed a leak that appears to be coming in through the area at the mast. I have re-bed the mast plate screws but water is still getting in. I assume now that the water is coming in where wiring and VHF coax leaves the cabin to go up the mast. We have had this boat a little less than a year and have never stepped the mast. What am I looking at as far as a DIY job is concerned? Is this something best left to a yard? The boat is an 1984 31...Thanks,Joes/v Charis

 

[Steve Dion]

Big Ugly Job!

Joe:IF, I say IF you do not have any damage to the crossmember or the compression post you can salvage this yourself.I would recommend that you drop the mast and check the deck, crossmember and compression post for rot. You can check the post by removing the casing. There are bungs in the cover that you can remove. Then pull off the cover. If there is no rot, you are half way home.If the deck and the cross member check out OK, you have lucked out. Just reseal the pipe that going thru the deck and put a loop in the wires so the water drips off the wires and does not run down into the post, deck

 

[Joe Dickson]

Thanks for the response Steve...

I looked in the archives and did not see much help there. I assume the mast weighs a fair amount, and proper precautions need to be taken to drop it. One photo forum posting showed a tripod rig used for securely lowering the mast. Any other suggestions as to how to go about doing this safely?Thanks again,JoeS/V Charis

 

[Steve Dion]

You need a crane!

Joe: There is no way to do this safely without a crane. Did you see Allan's pictures of the repair job on his H'34? It looks pretty much the same. The mast is over 40' long. I am guessing that you are looking at about 300# or more with the rigging. If you break the mast you are looking at big buck and many months with a boat to sail. Once you remove the mast, you can investigate your problem. I would actually use a drill and take a sample of the cross member from the inside of the boat. If the wood in there is soft and/or moist you will know where you need to start.Allan's pictures give you an idea of a crossmember that was collapsing. The fiberglass was compressing. On my H'31 only the post was rotting. The crossmember was still okay. If you do not have any structural problems you should be able to coat the cross member with epoxy to water proof it and then put a pipe thru the deck and caulk it in with a high quality caulking. Let me know what you end up doing. Do not let it go. If you do it now before anything start to rot, you can save yourself a lot of money and trouble. Our boat was out of commission for about 5-6 weeks and about $3,000.

 

[Joe Dickson]

Thanks again Steve...

I don't have any compressed fiberglass inside the cabin, nor does the contour of the deck appear to be deformed in any way. I'll follow your suggestion on checking the post, and then contact a nearby yard about dropping the mast and repairing the leak...