Broken Mast

[TampaMac]

Chain of events and gross stupidity on my part has resulted in me needing a new mast.

I came out second best to a piling in my rigging.

Anyway, anyone have any idea how much one costs and where to get a mast?

Thanks in advance.

[Moe]

Here's the link to Power Sailing Center's Replacement Parts List.

--
Moe

[richandlori]

Come on TampaMac, you have to give us more of the story than that. I bravely told the story of how I had the Mast collapse due to my stupidity, so we at least need some of how it happend.

Regards

Rich

[mike]

Yeah, we need details... you know the "learn from other peoples' mistakes" thing.

$546 for a new mast... that doesn't sound too band, but I bet shipping on something like that is astronomical. I wonder if perhaps Macgregor still has some 26X masts, and maybe you could get one included in the next shipment of 26Ms to your area dealer.

--Mike

[craiglaforce]

http://www.dwyermast.com/families.asp?c ... Name=Masts

You could also check this site.

[TampaMac]

Yeah, OK here's the story:

I often sail the boat places nobody in his right mind would attempt to sail. Just kind of fun.

To get to the Gulf of Mexico from my house I have a half mile wide bayou to cross and then a narrow channel past a bar and a Hooters and then about another half mile down a river to the open water. Well most people with some sense of common sense would power all the way out to the open Gulf.

Not me. If the wind is right I often sail with maybe jib only, and my engine standing by, slowly down the route to the Gulf. No biggie there. Boat is not overpowered by the jib and I have the engine standing by. Doing that is not really stupid, just kinda a neat way to enjoy the scenery.

Well, I worked all weekend putting in a icechest for a transom seat. Came out OK. So I kinda wanted to take her out for a spin. Normally I would have powered about a little out back and then came back. BUT - we have Hurricane Jeanne bearing down and it should pass by the house about noon tomorrow. We are starting to get the leading edges of the storm, not bad but more wind then normal.

So we are getting some wind from the hurricane, most people would think that that is the time to tie the boat down but to me it seemed like a good time to catch some wind while all the "wimps" (you know people who aren't idiots) were tying their boats down.

Anyway, me and my know nothing about sailing girlfriend took her out and we started sailing around in the Bayou even though it was low tide and there are a bunch of shallow places.

Well the wind would come and go. Strong and then nothing. So I started out jib only, then reefed main and jib, then full main and full jib. It is kinda fun getting thrown about a bit and having her (the girl) scream.

Well, after going across the bayou back and forth like ten times. I decided to go sail her out in the Gulf for a bit, and in spite of the gusty conditions it seemed like I could get her down the channel and out the river via the sail.

Now since I was sailing about in the Bayou I of course had tilted the engine up to increase speed. Oh and one more thing. Last time I put her up on the lift I had a full ballast tank, um I assumed that I had a full ballast tank. The boat had been a bit tippy but I was assuming it was because of the gusty winds.

So I start sailing up the narrow channel past the bar and hooters. Um lined up against the bar is a row of shrimp and other boats tyed up stern to the dock.

So I am sailing with my engine tilted up, with questionable ballast, under full main and half jib, with an approaching hurricane, in gusty conditions, at low tide down a narrow channel where I've never seen anyone except me dumb enough to ever try sailing the channel. Um so.....

I get hit by a huge gust, the boat heels badly, the partially extended center board hangs up on the ground I guess and the boat pivots 90 degrees and I'm pointed at a concrete sea wall and a bunch of commericial fishing boats with my mainsail full up.

I'm heeled over, no time to start the motor, and since it is up starting it don't help.

My right side shrouds catch on a piling and my bow hits a fishing boat. The spreader is twisted metal and and the mast is bent in an extreme angle. The nails on the piling rip at my rubber rub strip.

I start the motor, my girlfriend guides the wires off the piling and we douse the jib. I put away from the dock with a crowd of drunks watching.

It's back up on the lift with a twisted mast and a hurricane showing up tomorrow.

The funny thing is that this incident is totally not alcohol related.

Just got back from the bar though where I went to track down the owner of the fishing boat I hit. Commercial boat of course had but a little rub mark on it. The owner told me to forget about it. I bought him and the two girls he was with a drink and we called it even.

Anyway, the city just sent a car with a loud speaker by the house telling people that the hurricane is coming and to evacuate. You know what that means then......Hurricane party in my house. I get to see the storm surge come in tomorrow........

[mike]

Thanks for all the details! Not exactly the best way to impress a girlfriend, I suppose.

Were you able to determine for sure whether or not the ballast tank was indeed only partially full?

--Mike

[richandlori]

Oh ya...the best part is that you and everyone else is Ok and you can laugh at it later. I just arrived back in California from Jacksonville, FL. it seemed like a good time to get out of dodge.

I had to show my wife this story because it can take some heat off of me from when I crashed the mast on our house while learning how to raise and lower the sails.

We hope to get an update from you when the huricane is over to make sure you pulled through ok!

Regards

Rich

[Max]

........and here's me worrying whether my Mac will behave itself in a F4 just off Torquay England!!!!!!!
Similarly - my wife screams when it heels 1/2 a degree from vertical...showing her the story helped......a bit!

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Bummer TampaMac. Guess I'm one of those "whimps" who was preparing my boat yesterday. But hey, 10-20 years ago when I didn't have to be too responsible, I used to take my windsurfer out in the fringes of hurricanes. But I would usually stick to hurricanes out in the gulf usually since you would get a more steady wind than a land approaching cane.

At first yesterday, I wasn't going to fill the ballast because I thought Jeanne was going to pass much more to the East. But luckily, I did decide to fill it because now it looks like we are going to get a direct hit of cat1 strength. Its coming right at us now, winds are up to about 45 and increasing....conditions are deteriorating rapidly, Dwight. Hopefully, we won't get the backlash (storm surge) until closer to low tide. We have a 2.7 (abnormally high) tide at around 2PM this afternoon, which is about when the center is forecast to be over Tampa (no surge yet). If the tide and the hurricane recede at the same time, it could be the difference between a 4.5 and a 6.5 foot tide which is pretty substantial.

Hope we keep our electricity, I want to watch the Bucs game tonight. Oh yea, just remembered I have a 12V TV and rabbit ears...I'm still set for some football ... unless of course, if the broadcast antenna gets knocked down

[26XSunsailrs]

My story is not quite as entertaining, but I learned that you shouldn't go under the power lines with the mast up on your way to the ramp after setting up in the parking lot.

It took me some time and about $900 with shipping included. I bought a "bare" mast from Havencraft (who is no longer in business) and drilled all the holes and attached everything myself. Not rocket science at all and I did it over the winter so I did not feel rushed. I put the new and the old side by side on saw horses and just copied all of the measurements.

Sorry that happened to you, but don't worry, it is a pain in the a..... to repair, but more time consuming than difficult.

Havencraft left me out to dry when the shipper damaged the new mast, but I was able to still use it. (I am still furious with Havencraft - good riddance to them). Just make sure you unpack and inspect every square inch of the mast before you sign for it upon delivery.

I don't know where you can order the new mast, but they are definitely available- us idiots keep them in business!

See you on the water,

-Steve '99 26X Together

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

If the factory still has some, you should be able to have them include a new one in the next shipment to your nearest dealer. This is the cheapest way to get it shipped from California to Florida, or any where else for that matter. It can just ride along with the new boats and trailers for no extra cost. Because an X mast is shorter it could even be secured to a M mast and transported on the boat.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I should have mentioned you could also be the first to try a retrofit of an M mast to an X. I asked our dealer about it when the M first came out. He felt there were no difficult technical issues to installing a M mast on an X. Obviously you would have to buy a new mainsail. He indicated that when my X main was blown it might make sense to get the whole M unit rather than an upgraded X sail as the sail itself is the largest part of the cost. The aluminum and cables don't add up to that much more. The chainplate locations are nearly identical. Lengths of the stays can't vary that much. You would get a 2' taller stick and quite a increase in mainsail area. The X and M headsails are already identical. You'd even have the rotating mast and no backstay. Could be a good deal all around. I'm sure the factory would have M hardware in stock and could ship to a nearby dealer along with the next shipment of boats.

[TampaMac]

Interesting idea using an M Mast.... unfortunately I just ordered a new full battaned mainsail for the X about a week before I broke it, that was like $950.

Does it take the same boom? and no backstay? is that a problem?

I saw the propaganda from Macgregor that says the rotating mast gives you a bunch more effectiveness due to better airflow... if true it would be a nice improvement.

Interesting idea, I might call Macgregor and ask them about it. Maybe if they haven't already cut my new sail I can do that.

Anyway, low tide was at 7 pm today. I had water over the top of my dock and up on the lawn a little bit. As luck would have it by the time high tide hit some past midnight the surge was gone mostly and tide was about the same as it had been at low tide.

I think that if Jeanne had came a few hours later or earlier and max surge had had occurred at high tide I would have had ocean water in my living room. And this from what was barely a strong tropical storm when it hit, and I was hit from the weak side of the storm as far as I can tell.

I need to knock this place down and build to code, which is now 14 feet above MSL for your bottom floor.... probably in a few years.

My heavily damaged mast held up with no spreader cables stayed up under 60 mph winds. Of course all the rigging - sails and boom etc had been removed.

[Frank C]

Yeah, OK here's the story:
... I'm heeled over, no time to start the motor, and since it is up starting it don't help.
... My right side shrouds catch on a piling and my bow hits a fishing boat. The spreader is twisted metal and and the mast is bent in an extreme angle.

Sorry to hear, TampaMac.
Your story is a rerun. The first time I heard it, a new owner was heeled in heavy wind, passing too close to a marker buoy and it snagged a shroud. The mast dropped like a twig.

The lesson is ... yank on one of those shrouds and lose the mast. Good thing to remember whenever towing past trees and light standards.