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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Repair scratches on the mast?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/09/2010 : 17:40:27

Our main sail got difficult to raise this past season, and I've discovered the reason why. The mast raising apparatus has scarred up the mast around the tracks enough that the slugs drag on the scarring. I know that aluminum will seal itself over with a thin film of corrosion after it's been worked, is there anything else I need to take into consideration while removing the scarring?

My plan is to either sand it down by hand, or if I think it need more careful attention than that, I'll make a sanding block the forms to the mast cross section. Once this is fixed, I'm going to address the root problem which is the SS hardware beating up the mast while we're raising or lowering the mast. I think this is also the root cause of us blowing out three sail slugs this past season.

On that subject, I talked to Sailcare this past week and I'm going to have them sew on new "unbreakable" (their term) sail slugs so that we don't have that problem again. It's unpleasant at best to blow out a slug.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2010 : 18:47:02

Make sure you are pointing straight into the wind when you raise the main. That should keep the slug hardware off the mast track.

Not sure I'd want an unbreakable sail slug. That makes the sail the thing that would tear if you get too much pressure on it. I'd rather replace a slug. IMHO.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2010 : 19:33:17

It doesn't make any difference, being out of the weathervane was my first thought the first time it happened, but it's scratched up enough to make the slugs start dragging just about at the spreaders, which is where the mast raising stuff ends up.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5379 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2010 : 19:53:15

What kind of "mast raising apparatus" was it that marred the mast in the first place?

Is there any possibility that the track may be 'pinched' at the level of the spreaders?

My boom track was slightly pinched so I had to widen it out ever so slightly to allow the foot to move in and out easily.

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 01/09/2010 : 21:29:15

I lost all my sail slugs at once when we were knocked down by a microburst. They were fairly old - the all-nylon kind. I debated whether to go with nylon slugs again or to get the nylon slug with a steel bail. I decided on the nylon with a steel bail, and still wonder which was the right choice. That was two years ago, and I'm still alive, but don't take my advice until it's been a few more years...

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 02:04:23

The C-250 comes with a mast strap that's attached to the main halyard and run up underneath the spreaders. The piece of hardware that attaches ours gets pulled tight against the mast when you raise or lower the mast. I'm going to take a look at replacing it with a different type of bail, or simply using a larger carabiner or something to move it's purchase point out away from the mast, or maybe simply wrapping it in a piece of thick leather or something when we're raising/lowering the mast. I will also take a look at the mast tracks to make sure there's no pinching, which is a distinct possibility.

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 08:46:24

Im not a big fan of the sewn on sail slugs. Its a major headache when you break one to sew on a new one. This cant be done out on the water. I prefer the screw on type, If one should break while sailing the slug can be replaced in 15 min. as long as you have a few spares.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 11:54:09

Scott,
I'd tend to agree with you, but after talking to Jerry at Sailcare about it for a while, he'd convinced me that these would last good many years. I have (had?) some sewn on, some bolted on. As long as the weather isn't too nasty, Rita can sew on a new one in about five minutes (daughter of a seamstress). We have several spares in our kit, but I'm hopeful that these news ones will be (relatively) maintenance free.

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 13:23:27

David, nothing metal on the collar should touch the mast for mast raising/lowering. The collar ends should be forward of the mast and that is where a caribiner, or similar, attaches the collar to the mast raising strap from the trailer mast post. The main halyard holds the collar in place and connects to the extra webbing on the collar. Nothing metal should be touching the mast and it shouldn't involve the mast track in any way.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 13:53:06

Randy,
I'm not sure we have the same collar/bridle as you describe, but maybe so. I have scratches along the track side of the mast that start about 2' below the spreaders and run all the way up to them. I'll take some pictures today. We attach a locking carabiner to the front of the bridle, and the main halyard to the back. It may just be that the halyard attachment (can't thin of the term) is too sharp or has too many angles, dunno, but I'll be looking today.

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Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 20:10:06

David, I never used that shackle to attach to the bridle just for that reason. I always tied a bowline instead.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2010 : 22:33:18

Here are a couple of photos of the problem:

In this one you can see the chunk of aluminum on the left side of the track that's been torn out. It's turned out like a ratchet pawl, so it was hard to raise the main, but not so bad bringing it back down. Explains a lot of what I was experiencing.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2010 : 09:07:06

That does look like it might snag. I would check on where the slugs sit with the sail hoisted (and reefed), and try to minimize the amount of material sanded away in those spots to minimize slug-popping. Everywhere else you could make as smooth as you want, although I'd try to concentrate on smoothing the edges on the inside of the track only, where the slugs are being caught. You can't "put it back," and you don't want to have to buy a new extrusion.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2010 : 10:03:58

That sounds like good advice Dave (as usual). Unfortunately, the sail's currently in the queue at Sailcare, so unless I can find a picture with enough detail to see where they sit, I'm stuck until about March. I'll still grind down the burrs (there are two that are distinctly visible, the second one's much smaller) with my Dremel and a sanding wheel or smooth stone. The rest of the scratches are mostly cosmetic, I might sand them a bit to blur them, but not much more. As you said, don't want to buy a new mast.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2010 : 10:49:18

I prefer nylon sail slugs, with stainless steel bales, but without rockers.

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2010 : 06:45:44

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> I have scratches along the track side of the mast that start about 2' below the spreaders and run all the way up to them. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I don't know the C-250 at all but that just seems wrong. Would Catalina design something so bad it would do damage? Or is there something wrong with the hardware that engages the sail and halyard?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2010 : 09:53:39

I think it's something that's out of Catalina's control. The hardware you use on the end of your halyard is up to you. I knew about the scratching part but was unaware of how much damage had actually been done. In the future I'll probably be taking Tom's advice & tying a bowline in the sling instead of using the hardware. No chance of further damage that way.

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