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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

mast care/cleaning

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Larry
1st Mate

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USA
37 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/20/2005 : 16:38:38

I am very new at this whole sailing thing yet. Have had my catalina 25 1984 for 4 months now. I have learned a lot just getting out there and sailing (with friends who know how) and this site has been a great help. The boat is now out of the water and I'm trying to figure out what needs attention and prioritize. The teak needs some work, but my question today is about my mast. The finish is a dull gray. Should that get polished in some way, or should I just clean off the smudge marks and clean it with soap?
I still can't believe I have a boat! My philosophy has always been that it's better to have friends with boats than have your own, but I see I've been wrong. Thanks for your help.

Larry
"Kate Caroline" 1985
Great South Bay, Long Island, NY

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2005 : 18:37:53

The silver-grey is an anodized finish on the aluminum that you don't want or need to mess with very much... maybe wash occasionaly with mild soap/cleaner.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2005 : 18:53:42

Larry,

As Bruce said, you don't want to do any harsh cleaning on the mast that may harm the anodized finish. If you were to scrub it with an abrasive cleaner or pad, it may open it up to corrosion.

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 12/25/2005 : 19:09:16

I can't swear to it, but I was always under the impression that our masts are bare aluminum rather than anodized and that the grey patina is a thin layer of naturally occuring oxidation.

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familysailor
1st Mate

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USA
38 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2005 : 02:28:05

The mast on my 77 is bare aluuminum. The dull grey coating on my mast is a thin layer of corosion (oxidation). The odd thing is that this thin layer of corosion helps protect the aluminum from further corosion. That is the case on my boat but Catalina may have anodeized the masts on later models, though alumiinum usually goes through an alodine process, which can leave the metal with a goldish tint. If you want to clean it use a mild soap and water. No scratching materials.

Just my two cents worth. Your milage may vary.

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2005 : 10:29:45

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by familysailor
 The mast on my 77 is bare aluuminum. The dull grey coating on my mast is a thin layer of corosion (oxidation). The odd thing is that this thin layer of corosion helps protect the aluminum from further corosion. That is the case on my boat but Catalina may have anodeized the masts on later models, though alumiinum usually goes through an alodine process, which can leave the metal with a goldish tint. If you want to clean it use a mild soap and water. No scratching materials.

Just my two cents worth. Your milage may vary.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Not too shabby for a "new guy".

Anodized masts are usually black (like those on S2s) or dark, opaque gold and are easy to spot.

Masts that go through the alodine process are left with a thin protective layer of oxidation that you don't want to remove when cleaning.

Edited by - oldsalt on 12/26/2005 10:33:16

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 12/26/2005 : 13:03:07

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by oldsalt
 Anodized masts are usually black (like those on S2s) or dark, opaque gold and are easy to spot....<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Just because a mast has been anodized does not mean that it has to change color. The anodizing process allows a metal to be dyed, but dying is not a direct result of anodizing. If a manufacturer has anodized and dyed a mast gold, black, or whatever, I would bet that their non-dyed spars(bare aluminum) are anodized as well so they would have the same protection as the dyed masts.

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2005 : 08:37:15

I looked at the old and new owners manuals for the C25, and the new one says all spars are anodized. The old one suggests that some spars were anodized and some were not. My best guess is that Catalina used non-anodized spars in the earliest boats, but that they started using all anodized spars shortly thereafter. I ordered my boat in the fall of 1980, and, at that time, all the manufacturers were boasting that their spars were made of anodized aluminum. By that time, sailboat buyers were very aware of the benefits of anodized aluminum spars, and were demanding them. They had become the industry standard, and Catalina would have stayed competitive and would not have let themselves fall behind the technological and marketing curve. In 1980, I specifically looked into the question of whether the spars were anodized, and was satisfied that they were, although I don't remember what proof I found.

The old owners manual (posted elsewhere on this website) has suggestions for maintaining both types of spars.

My anodized spars had the same silver color and appearance as unpainted storm-door aluminum, with no gold tint or other indication that they had any kind of protective coating.

Edited by - Steve Milby on 12/27/2005 10:09:00

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.