Great Sailing, Then De-masted!

[Martin Williams]

AS a newbie sailor/ boatbuilder, I was delighted when my wife and I had a great sail here in texas on Copano bay.

We made great speeds up to 7knots on a broad reach, we were relaxed and my wife was getting more and more comfortable with the boat. It was great.

The wind was out of the east and we sailed due north for nearly 2 natical miles on a single tack, the water was so clear we could see her "trolling" rig in the water 40 feet back and 4 feet under water. It was gorgeous. we only got one "fish on" moment but I couldn't turn the boat into the wind fast enough, to slow the boat down and the hook popped out.

It was getting close to the time to turn around so we did. We were now on a starboard tack and my first blatant building error was made very obvious about a half mile from our boat ramp.

My mast step broke! Then at the same instant my thwart gave way to the mast being blown over by the 10 kt wind, Crack!!!

We both looked at each other in dis belief and the Mizzen mast and sail lay on the rail! We stayed calm righted the mast, tied the sail around the mast, lashed the mast into position using the oar lock holes as anchors, sailed under the main alone, and  used the trolling motor to get back to the ramp.

it took 5 minutes to get back to a safe position.

Wow. In reality damage was very minimal. I can easily fix the thwart, and am thinking of making a fiberglass tube like the main uses for the mizzen. Any thoughts on that?

I was very glad this experience did not totally freak out my wife, and she looks forward to me fixing the boat and our next sailing adventure. She was more upset we didn't catch any fish!!

A very scary moment for sure, but at the same time I was glad we were both wearing our pfd's and had talked about situations like this before we went out. It was good that we didn't freak out and just dealt with the problem quickly and with out incident. I also realized sailing alone is not an option for me right now, and will always have another able bodied person on the boat.

WEAR YOUR PFD's, you never know.

[wkisting]

Hi Martin,

I'm not sure a fiberglass tube for the mizzen will give you any advantage. It would have to be very beefy to lend any structural reinforcement, but really all it will likely do is trap water and debris. It would just be best, I think, to rebuild the mast step and thwart.

Not sure what caused your mast step to break, but one thing I did on my thwart is create a "doubler" around the mizzen mast hole with another layer of 3/4" mahogany, but with the grain oriented perpendicular to the top piece's grain orientation. The doubler is about 6" wide and runs alongside the CB case so it doesn't totally surround the mizzen mast hole, but does surround about 2/3 of it. It's probably overkill, but I don't think my thwart will ever break now from mast stress. My mast step I also overbuilt (taller than required), using 6 layers of 3/8" Meranti plywood to make a very beefy mast step. Again, feels virtually bombproof. Just food for thought.

Best of luck with the repairs... that's the joy of building 'em... you know how to fix 'em. 

[Martin Williams]

I was also thinking of the higher mast step of 6 layers. The tube would cause a problem with water and derbis, I did not think of that, do you have a picture of your mast reinforcements?

[wkisting]

Martin,

Here are a couple pics showing my beefed up mizzen support system: the thwart doubler and the taller mast step. I can't recall now if I used five or six layers of 3/8" plywood, but I know it is substantially taller than the plan version. The interior of the step is unpainted because the plan was to pour in some raw epoxy around the mast to create a perfectly fitted (and angled) step for the mast foot. It was slightly over-bored for that reason, but so far I've just been using a rag to take up the extra space around the mast foot for a nice, snug fit (while also preventing the wood from getting scratched, as I have yet to cap the bottoms of my masts). Excuse the dirt on the boat and the other clutter in the pics... haven't cleaned up after our last outing yet.

[Edit to add: Also, I noticed that my doubler is nowhere near 6" wide... more like 3" to 3.5" wide... just enough to surround the mast hole. I tapered the leading and trailing edge so that the added thickness would not be noticeable from a normal seated position in the cockpit.]

[Peter HK]

Hi Martin

I think a photo of the mast step failure, if possible, would really help the forum determine the underlying cause.

I can understand the thwart failing - the lever arm of the mizzen mast is great and once the mast step failed it could easily split the thwart.

Peter HK

[Ken_Potts]

   Wes,

   Cap the bottoms of the masts before you sail again! 

   The caps are structural.  They help keep the end of the mast from buckling.  Without the caps in place the steps will still keep the bottoms of the masts round if they are a tight fit but I wouldn't want to bet my masts on it.

[wkisting]

Thanks Ken. Actually, I mis-spoke. Technically, I do have a round wood cutout (plug) jammed in there for the structural purposes you mentioned, but I don't have a nicely machined cap that covers the metal edges to prevent scratches. For that, I've just been laying a washcloth in there because I was too eager to get sailing.

On my list of next-to-dos is to make a nicer cap that will prevent damage if I ever accidentally bang the deck or some other part of the boat while trying to step the mast. I'm planning to make the finished caps out of plastic-cutting-board material (screwed to the internal wood plugs I already have in place), but I keep forgetting to stop at the dollar store to buy a cutting-board I can cut up for that purpose.

[Gordy Hill]

Wes,

I was able to find poly about 3/4 inch or so thick. I drilled half way through with a hole saw that matched the inside diameter. Then, turning it over the pilot drill bit lined up perfectally with a holesaw that matched the outside diameter. (almost) A little grinding and it was perfect.