De-masted!

[nojudge2000]

Hey you guys, I'm dying, having read the story about the mast failure. Yikes! How scary is that?!

My wonderful DSI was birthed in 1959 (DS 127 - you bet, dig those mahogony seats and coamings) and I'm trying to do some major overhaul now. The mast is the big issue. It is soooo heavy and I am planning to (at least) replace the halyards. Trying to decide whether to drive to MA (or wherever Cape Cod Shipbuilding is) and buy a new mast and boom (boom is cracked at stern end) --- that's a big deal -- or just replace the hardware on the mast.

Your views? If you say replace, do I need to buy a new one, or will another mast/boom from a DSI work? But then, do I need to buy the entire boat just to get the spars? eegads.

I'm going to post some pictures (finally) in another post I started. You all are so helpful and I really appreciate it. The girl has been out of the water for 5 years and this lifer (first time on the boat was in 1962 at age 1!) is going to have serious mental health issues if I can't get her fixed up and sailing next year! Thanks much.
Bonnie (yes, female captain!) in western PA
Anyone know how to post pictures? not seeing link.

[hectoretc]

Scott, I installed the hatch because I'm a decrepit old man and have trouble putting things in and retrieving things out of the cuddy. The hatch is made of standard hatch-stuff; 2 oak sides, 4 oak ribs, rounded front and back of oak, 2 layers of 3mm Okoume ply and 1 layer of 1/4" oak ply, varnished. The 'door' to the hatch is still in 'prototype pine'. It is 3 hinged sections that fold down to make a seat or fold out to make a table, or fold up to close up the cuddy.

I'm very intregued by your cuddy top hatch. Do you have any more pictures from other angles? It's something I've been thinking a lot about, but haven't had the courage to break out the Saws-All yet. Also not excited about your bad experiences with the DR tabernacle since I did get the courage up to cut my mast about two weeks ago to add one of those. Anyway if you have more photos on the hatch, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

[GreenLake]

The mast is the big issue. It is soooo heavy and I am planning to (at least) replace the halyards. Trying to decide whether to drive to MA (or wherever Cape Cod Shipbuilding is) and buy a new mast and boom (boom is cracked at stern end) --- that's a big deal -- or just replace the hardware on the mast.

Your views? If you say replace, do I need to buy a new one, or will another mast/boom from a DSI work?

Well this really is a little bit different topic.

The cracks on the boom we can't say anything about, because we don't have the facts in detail. But if it's badly damaged, the thing would be to replace the boom, not the whole mast.

If the mast is otherwise original, it would be useful to drive it to a qualified rigger and have it looked at. There might be some that's closer than Boston... Hardware can deteriorate over the decades, and if yours if from '59, and if you lack experience, I'd give it to somebody else to look over.

The mast is indeed heavy, but people have coped with that in different ways. Here's my approach.[/url]

[jdoorly]

Hectoretc, I'll try to remember to take some snaps this weekend...