Mast base repair?

[Heiric]

Hi All, We recently received a free boat from a friend. It is an Ericson 29'. It has been idle for the past 5 years. She is out of the water getting an overhaul when i noticed the bottom of the mast. See the crack in the mast to boat connection. Is this something that needs to be immediately addressed? What should i be concerned about? Otherwise the boat is in pretty good shape all things considered. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Guy Stevens]

Yes, the mast step being broken has a lot of problems that can happen. Including but not limited to the mast ending up in the cockpit. That is bad for anything else in the cockpit.
G

 

[Afrakes]

Unfortunately it is what you don't see (hidden corrosion) that could be a problem. Best to have the mast pulled to thoroughly assess the condition of the base. A local welding shop can build one if necessary.

 

[kapnkd]

Hi All, We recently received a free boat from a friend. It is an Ericson 29'. It has been idle for the past 5 years. She is out of the water getting an overhaul when i noticed the bottom of the mast. See the crack in the mast to boat connection. Is this something that needs to be immediately addressed? What should i be concerned about? Otherwise the boat is in pretty good shape all things considered. Thanks for the advice!

Congrats on your E-29 which has similarities to the E32-II also with a deck stepped mast.

My ‘73 had a factory issue that the cabin support to the keel had a gap allowing the upper main brace to crack the inner headliner. Over the years it was a persistent crack that kept reappearing with our attempts to beef it up.

With our recent refitting of new bulkheads, we also inserted an aluminum pole more to the centerline of the boat, placed a thick sheet of SS above to better distribute the load and glassed in a 1/4” piece of aluminum channel to distribute the load to the keel.

At the mast we had Garhauer make an organizer plate that also is larger to better cary the loads on the cabin top.

To date now for us - all is well and SOLID.

 

[Heiric]

yeah, that is what i was afraid of. if any of you know of good riggers in the Puget Sound area let me know. It's going to be an adventure.

 

[kapnkd]

yeah, that is what i was afraid of. if any of you know of good riggers in the Puget Sound area let me know. It's going to be an adventure.

If your inside upper liner doesn’t have a crack in it, your main cross brace may be fine. Check down by the bilge to see if you have a gap or if it’s got a good solid fit. As I said, my boat was from 1973....If yours is later - good chance said factory issues were fixed.

Your problem could possibly be from water seeping into the mast base and softening the surrounding area. (This comes from water seeping in via the hole for mast wiring.) Then it’s a matter of digging out the rotted material and re-glassing it with a strong enough added filler material.

Regardless, you’re going to have an excellent boat at the end of it all. Best part is this website. There’s LOTS of knowledgeable Ericson owners with good advice and wearing the “Been There Done It” T-Shirt willing to share information.

I didn’t mean to scare you with everything we did. While it may have looked drastic, it really wasn’t. It was but a mater of insuring the mast loads went down to the keel properly.

You may want to consider a mast base organizer which will help spread the compression loads out. We found Garhauer is reasonable on his prices and does excellent/exceptional work.

 

[Guy Stevens]

yeah, that is what i was afraid of. if any of you know of good riggers in the Puget Sound area let me know. It's going to be an adventure.

Go talk to Ian Weedman at Brion Toss Yacht Riggers, he will get you straightened up and going in the right direction!
G

 

[racushman]

I had a similar situation on my Olson 34 when I bought it... there was a lot of corrosion around the area of the step, and part of the step had cracked off like yours appears to be.

I bought a new step casting from these guys: https://www.rigrite.com/Spars/SparParts/Mast_Steps.php

Inside the mast I didn't find much corrosion, and basically was just able to clean it up.

That said, I don't think there was all that much structural risk if I had just left it like it was.

 

[Mark F]

Hi Hieric,

If you go the new mast base organizer route Ballenger Spars is a good source. Here is a photo of the tabernacled mast base on my E27. The organizer is under the hinge part.

 

[Guy Stevens]

There does appear to be some deformation of the deck under the mast in the photo.
Remember everything that connects the keel to the should be structurally sufficient, and in a completely rigid and in line column.
G

 

[Todd charchenko]

yeah, that is what i was afraid of. if any of you know of good riggers in the Puget Sound area let me know. It's going to be an adventure.

Well how did everything work out. Are ya sailing the Puget Sound yet?

 

[Heiric]

Thanks for the followup. We ended up parting with the sail. There were just too many repairs for us novices to take on. We now have a 1976 32’ Fuji, which has been well maintained. So i guess I probably should be kicked off this forum.

 

[Todd charchenko]

Thanks for the followup. We ended up parting with the sail. There were just too many repairs for us novices to take on. We now have a 1976 32’ Fuji, which has been well maintained. So i guess I probably should be kicked off this forum.

To much useful info here not to take advantage of

 

[Kenneth K]

Another piece of anecdotal evidence that there is no such thing as a "free" boat.

Good luck with the Fuji.

 

[Loren Beach]

Another piece of anecdotal evidence that there is no such thing as a "free" boat.

Good luck with the Fuji.

The Fuji is a very traditional and salty boat. Not fast, but then no one buys one for that. Used to be one in our little YC; owner and boat moved away over a decade ago. IIRC there was considerable teak to care for, but that's part of the allure.
And, do stick around here. Lots of system parts are similar on all boats.
For some reason I thought this was an Alden design, but the internet sez 'no', altho a broker ad does say it was Alden. (?)

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/fuji-32

 

[rconehere]

Hi All, We recently received a free boat from a friend. It is an Ericson 29'. It has been idle for the past 5 years. She is out of the water getting an overhaul when i noticed the bottom of the mast. See the crack in the mast to boat connection. Is this something that needs to be immediately addressed? What should i be concerned about? Otherwise the boat is in pretty good shape all things considered. Thanks for the advice!

Was looking at that boom to mast gooseneck connection, nice! Congrats, always work to be done, enjoy!