What to do if de-masted?

[inarathree]

I read postings and news articles, where people get de-masted from whales (although I dont think it happens too often in FL), but I know that it does happen for other reasons too. I have de-masted two different Hobie Cats. Once from rigging failure, and once from fiberglass failure. Both times I pulled the rigging back on the boat, and thankfully someone was around to see it, and tow me in. But it got me to wonder, what do you do? I mainly sail by my self, or with a very minimal crew. Do you try to salvage your mast? Or cut it loose? On my H22, I think that I would be able to pull it back on deck, but on a much larger boat, there is no way I could do that.

So how would you handle that situation?

 

[Joe]

Here's one solution:

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/-snrc2.html

 

[sandsailor]

i had this happen on my laser once and lost the bottom section of the mast to the sea gods

 

[Merlin Clark]

I sail the Indian River Lagoon and would do everything I could to get it back. If I couldn't haul it aboard, I'd tie it alongside. If all else failed I'd disconnect it and put it on the bottom for later retrieval, marking it with a float and getting a position on it.

 

[r.oril]

I had a side stay come loose last year, scared me pretty good! Lucky for me I was just turning down wind so I dropped the main and jib and motored to the nearest dock on the lake. Turned out that the pin had lost it's keeper and was an easy fix.

I have some big blue bumpers that I think would float the mast if help was near to assist me. I would hate to cut the rigging but saving the mast would be a big priority. That being said, I think a small pair of bolt cutters might be a good addition to the onboard tool box.

I just replaced the back stay and went up one size on the front stay last year.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Couple of options but they all depend on what the situation is. If you are on the high seas you will want to make an effort to recover the stick as it can be used to make a jury rig and get you home (you have an alternate VHF antenna you can use when the mast antenna goes overboard right?). Course if you are in a storm then that may be more dangerous that cutting it loose.
You can use a clove hitch and the winches to help recover/secure the mast and don't forget the main sheet and boom vang tackles that might be able assist. Makes a point for easy to remove attachment pins on these devices.

 

[rgranger]

I think it is

"dismasted"

all one word.

 

[mark_swart]

I'd definitely try to hold onto it if at all possible. But of course, that's a very different situation if you're talking about a 22 footer versus a 32 footer.

 

[Winkfish]

And don't forget to make sure all lines are on board or accounted for so your prop doesn't get fouled.

 

[Prime Time]

Options

At a safety at sea seminar, using a drift punch and a 5 lbs hammer to knock out the clevis pins was pushed by people in the know. Ignore the cotter pin and just whack.

I also have a large bolt cutter, a sawzall and hacksaw.

 

[Jumpstart]

I've been dismasted in a microburst in June 2008. 70 knots of wind for 10 minutes then 10-18 afterwards, all of this at night. A lot of the above information only pertains to relatively flat water and calm seas. The first priority is make sure your crew is safe when dealing with a rig over the side. Second priority is keeping the boat from being holed as the rig in the water pounds on the hull. Third priority is making sure the prop is free. Fourth priority is recovering the rig and sails.

Some things to think about. If you are in a storm, wind and waves are big problem especially at night. With the rig hanging over the side, your boat will turn abeam to the wind and waves. Turing on the engine is not option until you clean the rig up. We had violent 4 foot disturbed chop which caused our boat (Sabre 28) to roll 25 degrees each way and pitch enough to bury the bow. A dangerous condition for the crew to deal with the rig. The drift pin punch is a good idea once you get rid of those pesky cotter pins which can be fun when the boat is bouncing all over the place. We had "wrap pins" which have velcro straps on all the turnbuckles. We ripped out the pins easily and unscrewed all the turnbuckles which worked brilliantly. Cutting things like vectran core halyards was tough until one of the crew whipped out his ultra sharp serrated blade rescue knife. Make sure you have a serrated blade knife for the hi-tech halyards and sheets. Our mast failure was catastrophic as it broke in 3 places and literally exploded as it left the boat. I like the idea of a 18 volt sawzall to cut away things like the foil or mast stub.

The best thing we had was an alternate VHF antenna on the stern rail. It allowed us to communicate despite the lack of a mast.

Good luck and be prepared.

 

[Prime Time]

Drift Punch

To punch out the clevis pins, you don't have to take out the cotter pins. They will be destroyed with enough force.