partly rotten mast foot!

[David Hill]

Hi,

Moonstruck is currently on a trailer outside my house. A few days ago, I clambered up to do some cleaning, and put my hand on the base of the mast for support. To my surprise my fingers felt the mast give!

I have the original SA hollow mast made up of 8 'planks' (OK, wrong term, but you know what I mean) bonded together. One of the 8 has a 6 to 8 inch section that is rotten. No idea how long its been like that (the mast was last revarnished a year ago), and obviously when handling it this year I must have gripped only the other 7 solid bits.

Question - it is feasible to remove the rotten wood and scarf in a new piece? WHat about sailing in the mean time - could such a small section cause a mast failure? I know, has to be sorted properly soon, but........

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Regards,

David

[oak]

Hello David, very sorry to hear of the problem.
Where exactly is the damaged bit?I know you said the base but whereabouts in relation to the pivot bolt?
Have you had any wires/crushes etc that could have caused water to lodge.
What I am trying to establish is whether it is inherited or caused?
If the rest of the mast is sound epoxy is a wonderful material for repairs like this/[when the weather warms up!] and without seeing the problem I would be hopeful of having a complete repair.
But it does depend on how much of a worrier you are.
Jack
"Merlin"

[Simon Head]

Hi David

I had my mast split about half the way up- one of the eight pieces of wood had a split joint either side.

I cannot see any problem with scarfing it with epoxy resin and then re bonding the sides with epoxy.

This is what I had to do (I was on a sailing holiday which delayed launch for a day while I did this).

I used an old piece of rope and used it as a Spanish clamp to get an effective bond to hold it together.

The mast is mostly in compression from the shrouds- being a short gaff mast it actually should flex little to put strain on the joints, especially with it being held in a tabernackle. I think mine split due to a quality fault in the type/amount of glue that was used to make it.

It lasted like this for 2 years- I then got a new Honnor Marine mast. No such problems with this as it is made from 2 solid halves (hence the reason for it being heavier than the original SA mast).

Should not be a problem.

Regards

Simon

[David Hill]

thanks for the comments.

The section is halfway between the bolt through hole and the foot, so the scarf/epoxy route is the way I will go. And no, not much of a worrier - I feel the loads are pretty low, and there vertical in any case.

Regards,

David