No Mast, but want one

[Dave_E]

Hi All,

The boat we're looking at has no mast, no radar. Being a sailor, I'm used to having all kinds of masts and sticks, flags etc.. I find this 36 Eagle to look good... but missing something.... like a mast. Does anyone know where I'd start my search for a mast with yard arms? Boom probably not. Thanks.

Dave

 

[DavidM]

I would search the marine consignment stores. Mast and radar supports for boats of this ilk were usually fabricated in fiberglass by the builder. If you were to try to have one built today it would cost a small fortune.

If you just want a radar mount and no mast, check out Scanstrut.

David

 

[Comodave]

I bought a damaged spinaker pole and added a spreader for antennas for a previous boat. It worked out well and was pretty cheap since the pole wasn't usable any more for a spinaker. Had a welder fabricate mounts for it. All in for a couple of hundred bucks.

 

[Bob Cofer]

Dave,

There is a sailboat junk yard up near Lynden that has all kinds of possibilities.

Bob

 

[Nomad Willy]

Dave E,
You'd like my friend Bob who along w myself has a boat at LaConner. We both have Willards. Bob's just not happy w/o masts.

Nix on masts. I like our covered moorage.

 

[FF]

A mast may be fun , but check your local area and figure out how many bridges you will be stuck behind ,waiting to open.

Our vessel is unique , 50 ft and easily runs under 12ft bridges , saves effort and time when cruising.

 

[psneeld]

If you just want something for radar, a couple lights and some flag lines, it can be relatively short and easy to fold down.

Lots of materials and designs can do that...there even may be some pre made ones on the web, or removed ones for sale. An alternative is an arch, easier to fold and holds shades or bimini tops. Many of those are available in all sizes and shapes.

I like my mast but would like it to fold easier when bridges are numerous. It is great for lifting heavy things aboad. Have had my dingy hanging alongside for 2 months while my davit brackets are welded snd I recondition my swim platform.

But a big stayed mast usualky has to have design points built into the boat or added in addition to the mast.

 

[DHeckrotte]

Check out my posts re: making a new mast. And/or PM me for the AutoCAD drawing and pics.

The boat had its original wood mast with an added radar. Its stays were unsuitably 'nautical' (bigger stuff than on our 38' sailboat!), and in my way as I walked around on the flybridge.

My new mast is a spinnaker pole plus a slew of fiberglass. The stays are replaced by a tabernacle-table. Remove three bolts and the thing folds down.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Dave,

There is a sailboat junk yard up near Lynden that has all kinds of possibilities.

Bob

Try Longships Marine in Poulsbo.

 

[rwidman]

A mast may be fun , but check your local area and figure out how many bridges you will be stuck behind ,waiting to open..

Yes, a mast can be a PITA. If you don't need one, don't get one.

The advice I usually give people is, when you get a new boat, don't run out and make changes right away. Use it like it is for a few months and you may change your mind about what you thought you needed.

 

[O C Diver]

If you were on the East Coast I could hook you up. My boat came with an aluminum mast that folded down. Has a radar mount, yard arms and anchor & mast head light mounts. Will have to look for a picture. Too much of a chore too put it up and down for non demand bridges.

Ted

Edit: Here a couple of pics with the old mast.





Ted

 

[sbu22]

I built one for my boat using a Katrina wreck aluminum sailboat mast. Probably a 50' mast to start. Cut out the twisted upper portion and the barnicle crusted lower section and turned the 17' I needed it over to a commercial Al weld shop.

Added a baseplate, a mid brace, bolt attached spreaders, and baseplates for radar, steaming light, and anchor light. Awlgripped. I have no bridge issues, so it's straight up.

 

[sbu22]

Pics

 

[milt]

To bad you are on the left coast, I have one off my 34' MT. I am also on the left coast, of Florida that is.

 

[koliver]

Hi All,

The boat we're looking at has no mast, no radar. Being a sailor, I'm used to having all kinds of masts and sticks, flags etc.. I find this 36 Eagle to look good... but missing something.... like a mast. Does anyone know where I'd start my search for a mast with yard arms? Boom probably not. Thanks.

Dave

Your indicated requirements can easily be met by a length of irrigation pipe, weld on a pair of spreaders, a light on top, flag halyards, a radar base, internal wiring, on a tabernacle for when you get a shelter (most bridges in your vicinity are high enough you won't be lowering your mast until you get a shelter).
Don't bother with stays, as the pipe is strong enough to stand without.
I have what I have described, plus a lifting boom, which I have used to lift my Laser aboard, at 150 lb.
If I wanted to lift a heavy load, I would rig a temporary stay.

 

[healhustler]

Good information from all, but at least one of us (by the name of Cardude) had a very nice low profile trawler, able to clear most any bridge on the Florida ICW. Then he refitted with a 40 ft. sail rig and on his way to the launch point for the Bahamas, had to wait for just about every bridge between Stuart and Lake Worth. Poor guy.....His easy-option ICW days are probably over.

 

[Dave_E]

Keeping the sailboat mast

Thanks for the discussion!

I saw a trawler picture that had the Seaview mast with the radar at the top. Didn't look too bad. Looking at mounting the pole from our sailboat it to the cabin top, put a little spreader on it for the GPS bulb and a wind instrument. Stabilize it with Seaview mounts to the rails. Still trying to "visualize" a straight pole with a radar at the top of it.

Dave

 

[Bob Cofer]

Mini mast on Ebbtide.