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Mast Float Kits


PadrePoint

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7 hours ago, Reacher said:

Nick C, (or any other float users)

Is the weight of the float noticeable when raising the mast?

Thanks for the photo, PP. 

 

I have yet to test the float, fortunately.  I did turtle once.  It was very traumatic, and that prompted me to get the float and make a some other improvements and additions (for example, sailing with safety lines rigged ala Howard Rice, barely visible in this photo.

 

As to Nick's question, I notice just a bit of extra weight when raising the mizzen, and can feel the added air pressure if there is a breeze when raising.  I don't know how to quantify it.  "Half a pound"?  It's not a lot, just a hair more than when it wasn't there.

 

I put mine on the mizzen, because if I'd have added the extra shaft to the main mast, the length would have exceeded the specially sewn pocket in my cover.  Like someone above, I didn't feel the extra length on the main mast would add that much to the righting moment.  Adding the shaft to my mizzen makes both masts the same length.

 

I recommend naming your float.  It's good to talk to it sometimes.  Mine is "Moby Turtle."

 

It will act as a wind vane in all but very light air, which can be handy.

 

I feel better with it up there.

 

--pb

 

 

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Here is a commercially made auto-inflating mast head float, Secumar. I've never used one of these or even seen one. I imagine it would be raised to the mast head using a continuous line halyard. It's also fairly expensive and it would have to be ordered from Germany. But it would have less windage than a solid float.

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Something like….??   ?

I did a dry assembly on one of the two mast floats and decided to try making it into a fish.  
 

I asked my grandkids to give names to the two floats.  My wife thought “fishy” or “floaty” would be what they’d come up with. Sure ‘nuff, the 1st grade boy came up with Fishy. 


My reply?  “No, no…. It’s GOTTA be something more interesting and funny than that, and Floaty was just the first thing that came to your mind.  Give this some actual thought and time. DELICATE MATTERS LIKE THIS TAKE GREAT CONSIDERATION.  ?  In fact, we’ll wait until AFTER I make and paint them before they get a name… so keep thinking, kiddo.”  
 

They’re gonna need some “dad-joke” coaching for this.  
 

So, wondering how to draw fish-face parts…

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I just jumped into a first attempt. 
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It’s a start. Now to make another tail fin to look “fishy”…

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I thought the mouth could be a little more smiley… so, how’s this?

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I think it could turn out kinda cute in spite of my low and rudimentary level of artistic skills.  ?

 

In the spirit of Christmas Carols… I needed this when I was asked as a 3rd grade kid to sing unaccompanied to my family gathering.  (Like many, I ran out of air just before … ria… preparation is everything.) ?

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I just realized… ?


I’m thinking the float might serve as a wind indicator… to some degree. I notice the tail is just a bit heavier than completely balanced, which I think makes sense. With the mast raked back 6 degrees the tail might naturally swing aft… again, desired, I guess… after all, fish don’t swim well backward. ?

 

This, along with my plan to mount them on the mizzen masts, thus the mainsail will have an impact… well, we shall see.  Wind indicator correctness of the float might about as accurate as wind in my face… and, I guess, it won’t matter so much to me. I don’t like craning my neck up anyway. ?

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One of my four adult kids just told me in our group message thread that the float looks…

FINtastic
 

That’s gonna start a whole bunch of corny puns in our message board… usually does.
 

I’ve taught them well.  
 

Hey, grandkids, be inspired.  ?

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Glued Up

For this, I decided to use basic construction glue. The floats will both be fiberglassed, so the glue is only minimally important. 
 

For the bottom section I chiseled out a little wedge and cut a groove into the pvc.  The cured glue might act like a spline being pushed into the spaces.  Perhaps this will more effectively hold pvc and foam together. Did I NEED to do this?  Likely not, but it didn’t take much, so why not?

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Ready to add the second layer. 

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Then, I figured I should spread the glue for the next layers. Better, I think. 
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Done. I’ll let them sit until tomorrow. 
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The fish tail that I made is on the float with a face… the kit’s tail is on the other… just to compare.  The kit tail has a nice and more finished aeronautic look to it.  I think I’ll make a second fish tail… just ‘cuz I think it looks kinda comical. ?

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Finally, an important news bulletin just came in:

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On 12/6/2021 at 4:18 PM, PadrePoint said:

One of my four adult kids just told me in our group message thread that the float looks…

FINtastic
 

That’s gonna start a whole bunch of corny puns in our message board… usually does.
 

I’ve taught them well.  
 

Hey, grandkids, be inspired.  ?

I guess that tells the tail. I'm fin-ished now.

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A Bit of Whoops… (time for some caulk)

I put some sticky back sandpaper onto a sponge block to smooth things out. The construction glue certainly holds stuff together fine but I should not have allowed any “squeeze out.”  The rubbery glue doesn’t want to sand out. Oops.  I kinda got careless on the nose at one point and didn’t notice I was removing too much of the foam as I was scrubbing the glue a bit. 
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So… maybe a little repair and fill in before fiberglassing is in order.  I have a tube of good outdoor caulk that I got for a six foot bead line, so I might as well use it.  It’s brown and likely has no more purpose for my house. The joints on top and bottom have a few gaps, so I might as well fill that too. Will that make much of a difference in the end?  Likely not. 
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A bit messy (hey, it’s the way of boat-building) but the caulk will sand smooth more effectively than the glue.  Now I need to let things sit. 
 

I asked Facebook friends whether I should go with the straightforward approach, or add the fish-face and tail fin.  It’s unanimous… FISH!!  ? ? 

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Some significant snow is finally hitting us.  We get to start playing, “AM I STILL ON THE ROAD?”  ?   When we do the “drive and feel” method in blizzards, it’s always nice to have the snowplow piles on the sides of the road to be like “bumper bowling.”  ?  (My wife used to work for the Girl Scouts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan;  she would sometimes be driving alone at night while cutting tracks in 12+ inches of snow on VERY remote roads. Whew!   Girl Scouting can be adventurous.)

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On 12/5/2021 at 9:16 AM, Nick C said:

 

I recall there was a discussion on this forum about that and other ideas for alternatives but I can't locate it just now. There are some commercial products that have potential, and I like your MacGyver idea. But as you note not as trustworthy and once deployed then what? My experience is that if you capsize once you can capsize again ...

 

If you search there are some floats (either permanently inflated or foam) for Wayfarers and Flying Scots that tuck into the top of the sail, "like a pita" as one of them described.  That to me seems to be the best balance between looks, performance, and safety.

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17 hours ago, Andy B said:

If you search there are some floats (either permanently inflated or foam) for Wayfarers and Flying Scots that tuck into the top of the sail, "like a pita" as one of them described.  That to me seems to be the best balance between looks, performance, and safety.

I saw a good example of one in use. Two low profile inflatable tubes that wrapped under the top of the sail and were raised as part of the sail. It looked fine and added no weight when raising and lowering the mast. 
 

The problem from my view was that it did not go to the top of the mast when the sail was reefed and therefore gave  less righting moment under those conditions. Also it would interfere with air flow over the top 30” of the sail.

 

So, I don’t know. If Flying Scots use them they must have been tested and accepted.

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10 hours ago, Reacher said:

I saw a good example of one in use. Two low profile inflatable tubes that wrapped under the top of the sail and were raised as part of the sail. It looked fine and added no weight when raising and lowering the mast. 
 

The problem from my view was that it did not go to the top of the mast when the sail was reefed and therefore gave  less righting moment under those conditions. Also it would interfere with air flow over the top 30” of the sail.

 

So, I don’t know. If Flying Scots use them they must have been tested and accepted.

Geez, didn't even think about where the float would be when reefed.  Good point!

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Yes that is a big problem (doesn't work when reefed) and eliminates it as an option for us if the boat was to be used for camp sailing or in an event like the Everglades Challenge when we are often reefed in high winds. 

 

Our very own Richard Johnson is about to do some testing with our float on his wayfarer an an alternative to the foam pad float in the sail as their club allows reefing while racing that brings up the issue of lowering the flotation. 

 

Our two sizes of floats are now available!

 

https://bandbyachtdesigns.com/hardware-and-rigging/aluminum-masts-sailtrack/mast-head-floats/

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Moving Along — A Little Rough

I did an initial sanding of the glue-up outside my garage (I found rubbing a bunch of snow ? on my jacket removed the foam dust that absolutely defied coming off my jacket with hand brushing.)

 

Then, I needed to get some “walls” up around my basement shop area to contain dust and fumes.  I hope it is sufficiently effective. 
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I sanded the hardened caulk to some kind of smoothness. I’ve already decided that my painting/finishing goal will be more toward “functional” than what I went for with my boats. 

How to apply 2 dimensional glass cloth to 3 dimensional surfaces???  I’m amazed how much wetted cloth can adapt to curve shapes. I underestimated that capacity when I glassed my CS15 hull… I really didn’t need to make the cuts/overlaps I did on the sides… oh well…

 

Cloth can adjust, but this is a substantial set of curves, especially as it moves to the blunt nose and thin tail. I guess, just jump into it and see how it goes. 
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I cut some darts, made some overlaps, and did the best I could do.  The second one went better than the first.  A little experience helps, I guess. 
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After a couple days, I got the sander out to see how things have come out.  A few 1/2 inch bubbles had formed, but by and large… not bad.  
 

The side of the top float (below) looks like it has a lamprey bite ?.  After I glassed the second float, because my basement is rather cool, I thought I’d blow the glass with my heat gun a little, just to warm the epoxy a bit.  I was distracted for juuuust a short moment once and held the gun kinda still. Whoa… immediate kick-off.  (Quick, blow in it.)  The foam indented a bit with the epoxy’s heat.  I added a few layers of glass cloth patches to build it up. Mostly, it’s fixed.  I’ll take it and make up a good story for the “oops”… I kinda like the lamprey approach.  ?
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I added a thin coat of primer to each. When dry, I’ll try enhancing a few surface irregularities that formed with glassing over the curvy foam, but I’m going to be happy with functional. 
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On 12/13/2021 at 7:50 AM, Alan Stewart said:

Yes that is a big problem (doesn't work when reefed) and eliminates it as an option for us if the boat was to be used for camp sailing or in an event like the Everglades Challenge when we are often reefed in high winds. 

 

Our very own Richard Johnson is about to do some testing with our float on his wayfarer an an alternative to the foam pad float in the sail as their club allows reefing while racing that brings up the issue of lowering the flotation. 

 

Our two sizes of floats are now available!

 

https://bandbyachtdesigns.com/hardware-and-rigging/aluminum-masts-sailtrack/mast-head-floats/

Alan- Do you have any bracket or mounting set up for wood masts?  I am sure I can come up with something that would work on my wooden Lapwing mast to fit one of these to it but don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

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Pink Salmon Floats??  ?

I let the epoxy of my little patches cure a few days before adding another coat of primer. (I didn’t take a photo of the final primer coat… and I didn’t epoxy coat the tail fin, just primer.)

 

Then, for a first coat of paint, I used some dregs of white and red that I had mixed together a couple months ago to show The Weezer (her build blog) how we could easily make safe-to-use one-part marine paint in her desired shades of pink.  She’s been in a holding pattern for months on finishing her Spindrift 10 trying to find an auto body shop that would paint it. I encouraged her to give it a try herself with the paint I’ve used: Interlux Brightsides (which doesn’t offer pink… but I remember my childhood Golden Book which was read to me in pre-reader days, and then many times to my kids: The Color Kittens ?.)

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Remember it?   “We can MAKE pink from white and red!”  ?

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So, using the leftover dregs and the brush I used for the red on my two boat builds, the floats now look like pink salmon.  ?. (Red and blue coats are next.)

 

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By the way, I made this color by adding white to red. I believe we will have a better pink result by adding red to white instead. 

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Uh Oh… no blue paint…  ?Am I Blue ?

After making the previous post, I thought I should check on the paint that came with Avocet, the CS17mk3 that I bought last month. I thought the blue was there, but nope. ?
 

However, the YELLOW color paint of the gunwale IS in the box. So, the float might have to be that color instead. ?
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Other options: should I get a quart of the blue for future touch up, find similar blue Rustoleum locally, OR, maybe the boat needs a “classier all white mast float… or white with the matching yellow fish-face and highlights?  Hmmm… I will need to consult with family on this. ?

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