Dismasted!
Can you imagine trying to deal with this short handed?
Yes, it’s a long video but well worth watching!
13 Comments
Comments are closed.
Can you imagine trying to deal with this short handed?
Yes, it’s a long video but well worth watching!
Comments are closed.
I think I’ll just try and keep the mast intact !
Good idea.
They have done several “test” that all seem pointless to me. Yes rig failure has to be recognised, but did that really advance anyone’s knowledge/ I doubt it.
They also capsized the boat (twice) in the marina, so flat water, and with no mast up. Some water got in. Well what a surprise.
Nevertheless I suppose it all serves as a reminder. But did we really need it.
🙁
But anyway, thanks for finding it and posting it. 🙂
Mike
What I learned: the chances of a short handed crew recovering a mast after a situation like that are pretty much nil.
http://boatbits.blogspot.com/2009/12/shucky-darn-mast-fall-down-go-boom.html
Interesting reminder I thought on the effects of a catastrophic mast failure due to rigging giving way.
Happened to me once many years ago albeit under different circumstances. It wasn’t nice. As you can see it can be a real struggle to sort the issue out, even with a decent bolt cropper, with the sails becoming a drogue. Imagine the problems in a more serious weather condition.
Something as simple as a circlip/split pin coming loose can cause this. I always tape up all connections for this reason….as well as to reduce potential sail rips.
Cheers for the heads up.
Not to deviate too far from the subject but taping over turnbuckles, etc. is itself a bit controversial. I have heard some say that it can contribute to stainless hardware issues. In the past we did as you do, taping over all cotter pins, etc. Now we don’t.
Wiring toggles, shackles, etc. shut with monel seizing wire, or even plastic zipties (although they do eventually wear out in sunlight) is a good idea.
Wrapping stainless steel in tape is not good. Without oxygen, SS is susceptible to dangerous, and potentially very fast-moving, crevice corrosion. The tape traps a bit of water in the threads, the threads start to corrode, and now you have a few different phases of different metals in one part. That’s a recipe for rapid deterioration, and since it’s taped up, you won’t see anything until it fails.
Bronze doesn’t have this problem, but bronze rigging hardware is hard to find these days…
IMHO, better to design the rigging to a high factor of safety in the first place, then take good care of it so the mast won’t come down at all. But be prepared to cut it free, just in case it does.
I have hard similar things.
Few surprises, but a worthwhile wake-up call. Yeah, I think it is worth having a plan.
* Without some tools you are pretty much screwed. However, with a pin punch and a hammer the toggles should come apart. If I were crossing oceans I would take bolt cutters,as they are multi-purpose.
* A PDQ 32 mast would almost certainly go in one piece. I’ve seen beach cats andStilettos dismast, with the same standing rigging plan. Generally it’s a shroud, as they can pump.
* I’m thinking the weather will be much worse. The only thing 2 can do is get shed of everything, and unless I was far off-shore (out of engine range) I wouldn’t try to save anything. I’m all for saving money, but I think I risk more damage trying to save junk (only the winches would be worth anything).
* If it were inshore and shallow (less than 100 feet), I think I would try to mark it with a fender and get it later. On a calm day with crew and perhaps work boats, it would be easier.
Worth thinking through, if for no other reason than to eliminate panic and develop realistic expectations.
Good idea about marking the area in shallow water for later retrieval.
OK that was totally not fair. I read your blog through my Google Reader and I only get the title till I open the post. I saw “Dismasted!” and my heart skipped a beat. Go easy on me!
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
Sorry Deb:)