my mast is stuck together i had to bring it home on the roofrack it never happened before must of got sand in it ... whats the best way to split it?
Not sure if this is a wind up!
Assuming it isnt >>
Clamp a boom above and below the joint and attempt to rotate the joint to gain movement .Rotating the joint and unscrewing apart is best if sand is trapped.
If you do not have two booms or that does not work, tie a hitch knot and anchor one end of the mast to a lamp post and the other end to your car and pull it apart
we did it this way twice best idea is to tie a saftey rope in the middle to the piece closest to your car doent fling into it,just in case.
Bustawa, now your home, and if you dont have two booms to help out, a couple of ways to get it free. place it between to supported points at mast base, and mast top, press down (bend the mast at the joint) rotate 90 degrees and do same. You will need to press hard to get the joint to flex. A couple pf turns and it should loosen up. Also poring hot water onto the joint will allow the outer section (female socket) to expand and assist with separation.
When you get it free, buy yourself electrical tape, and tape the joint each session. Or cut an old push bike tube and place a 25mm section over the joint each time you assemble the mast.
It sucks bringing a mast home on the roof rack. Feel for ya.
I read somewhere here if you place the mast on a block at each end and then jump on the middle it can loosen it up. Not sure if that works or not. Sounds like you are more likely to break the mast.
I really hope you don't have to put the mast on the roof rack again.
If it were me i'd be pouring some near boiling water over the upper section to expand it slightly. And pull quickly...
Only other thing i would try is to block off the top of the mast and put a hose into the bottom sealed with a rag... give it full pressure and try to wiggle the joint with the water pressure in there in the hope that you may promote a leak... not sure if that would work never had to do that... i just use the hot water trick thing... make sure that you dont heat the lower mast tho as you need it as cold as you can get it... Also dont pour water over it for too long coz it will heat thru to the inner pipe too...
oakies will try the hot water and the boom trick before i use a car and anchor. once again thanks fellas !!!
felt like i was going to jhoust oncoming traffic.....
skirt some wwd40 into the joint and then with two people holding each end, raise and lower the mast in time (quickly) with each other to get the mast flexing in the middle. this has worked for me in the past, good luck
the car and anchor method works a treat (done it twice so far).
use tape round the joint now to prevent it happening again.
What masts are you guys using? In the 20 or so years since I got my first 2 piece I have never had a stuck mast. Mostly have used Fibrespar and Powerex.
If ya sail at a beachy and get worked, most times ya mast will stick. Which seems strange coz the ferral tolerances are so small, but sand still gets in! At least these days masts dont snap, they just jam.
yeps i got the hose and put water in the top it didnt move then i used boiling water on the female side and bounced the top of it on the grass and rotated 90 degrees everytime i bounced it. work a treat
i 5think last time i went out the mast join wasnt correctly positioned and i found that there was a couple of moonshaped burrs around the pole which was a contributing factor i cleaned it up with 1200 grit.
ill make sure in future that my pole is in all the way in the hole.
( before applyin downhaul)
thanks again gentlemen
Have a role of electrical tape in your sailing box. Put a couple of turns around the join when you rig up. It's the only %100 effective way of stopping this and takes about 5 seconds to do.
^ This.
... but it seems most of the grit that gets stuck attaches itself wihle you are derigging/rigging. The ground in SEQ is so dry at present that as soon as any gear touches it dirt and grass go inside, or get blown in. The swear jar is almost full. Used boom method successfully twice on weekend, once for the mast and once for the extension.
