Mast Replacement

[TheQueen1988]

The Queen is a 1988 34 ' Marine Trader DC. Owned her for 4 years. She came to me without her mast and boom.
I know there have been many posts on here about sail areas and loads. I don't want to install a sail or a boom. Just mast light and spreader bars with LED Spot lights shining down on the deck. Also maybe a wifi or GPS antenna. I have the deck attachment point hardware for the guy wires and bottom mounting plate. My mast is attached to the upper bridge so it will most likely be only 8 -10 ft tall.
What I would like to find is a drawing or sketch of the orginal.t

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard, sorry I can’t help.

 

[alormaria]

Mine is much older and the mast is mounted in a tabernacle on the aft cabin roof. 3 of the stays mount on the flybridge floor and 2 mount to the aft cabin roof.

 

[AKDoug]

My box mast rotted out, and I replaced it with a section for sailboat mast. UPS ships up to 9' to Alaska, and the fittings for spreader bars are readily available as well as the spreaders. I did include a section of boom, for a rain cover, by having it tucked inside the larger mast section when shipping it and then cutting it down to fit my aesthetics.

I modified the base so it lies down for winter storage without removing it, and had a gear shop fabricate the cables and turnbuckles. It is 100% satisfactory and will never rot again!

 

[Barking Sands]

I have been looking for the same solution and not really settled on anything yet. I bought several used pieces that I could use. But I still haven't decided how I want to do it. If you arent adding a boom and are just using it for lights, and radar etc then that opens up many more possibilities. Including just a simple aluminum pole with some type of mount and upper cap etc. You could get pretty creative on how you add stuff, add mounts, anchors light etc. You may not even need stays/cables depending on how you tie it in. I am still split on how it will go.

I also got a used mast that someone here was giving away. Although its still sitting at my brothers in South Florida. Ill probably pick it up this Jan sometime. It needs some rot repair and rewiring for the lights etc but it seems salvageable.

Please share your path if possible and I will do the same when the time comes. Good luck.

 

[Peter B]

The Queen is a 1988 34 ' Marine Trader DC. Owned her for 4 years. She came to me without her mast and boom.
I know there have been many posts on here about sail areas and loads. I don't want to install a sail or a boom. Just mast light and spreader bars with LED Spot lights shining down on the deck. Also maybe a wifi or GPS antenna.

Barking Sands also wrote...

I have been looking for the same solution and not really settled on anything yet. I bought several used pieces that I could use. But I still haven't decided how I want to do it. If you arent adding a boom and are just using it for lights, and radar etc then that opens up many more possibilities. Including just a simple aluminum pole with some type of mount and upper cap etc.

To both you, and Barking Sands, might I, as a previous owner of a CHB34 (sedan version), which was also sans mast etc when purchased, suggest you save yourselves a lot of hassle with a non-original mast, rigging attachments, etc. You could do this quite cheaply by just having someone, appropriately skilled, fabricate you a tubular alloy targa-type of frame. One that straddles the flybridge in the most convenient place, clamping onto existing rails, eg, and place the things you want on that. Wiring could even be invisible by threading through the frame. That would make a more sturdy self-supporting mount, and look better as well. Later one could even mount a radar dome on it if desired. Just a thought..?

 

[koliver]

To both of you thinking of a new mast:

My original was too short and had a boom that barely extended out as far to the side as the gunnels. It had stays that threatened to decapitate anyone not paying close attention. It had to go.
Now for about 25 years, I have a taller mast with a lifting boom that has lifted my Laser (13' x 5') without pause, carries spreaders, flag halyards, flood lights, anchor light, radar, fwd steaming light and YC burgee. All of this is on a 3" aluminum irrigation pipe. It folds at the aft cabin mounted tabernacle, attaches at the flybridge stern edge, has no stays, though for heavy lifting I tie at the base of the radar and run a line to the base of the helm chair. Lowering is easy, as the full weight is light enough for a single part line attached at the base of the radar and I lower it onto a 30" tall "A" on the rear cabin roof. That is high enough to walk under both mast and boom when passing across the rear deck and low enough to allow entry to my shelter.

You don't need to over build, or even to over think.

 

[Barking Sands]

Actually for my set up I am building an aluminum frame aft canopy to cover the cockpit. I may also do the same to cover the upper deck but have it hinged for lowering. Whatever I do will incorporate some type of lifting ability over the swim platform as well as electronics mast. I already have aluminum round stock as well as finished round and oval mount pads, nice Miller welder and spool gun, tubing roller with dies, and other metal fab tools. I also recently purchased a Sailrite machine and have had good success with sewing canvas etc.

As of now I'm gathering ideas. I did mention the traditional mast but currently that's a low probability option. I really just don't think the upper decks of these Taiwanese boats can handle it without reinforcement. So a halfway decent cage attached at the most solid points seems to be the way to go. It will really add to the overall strenght.

 

[Barking Sands]

To both of you thinking of a new mast:

My original was too short and had a boom that barely extended out as far to the side as the gunnels. It had stays that threatened to decapitate anyone not paying close attention. It had to go.
Now for about 25 years, I have a taller mast with a lifting boom that has lifted my Laser (13' x 5') without pause, carries spreaders, flag halyards, flood lights, anchor light, radar, fwd steaming light and YC burgee. All of this is on a 3" aluminum irrigation pipe. It folds at the aft cabin mounted tabernacle, attaches at the flybridge stern edge, has no stays, though for heavy lifting I tie at the base of the radar and run a line to the base of the helm chair. Lowering is easy, as the full weight is light enough for a single part line attached at the base of the radar and I lower it onto a 30" tall "A" on the rear cabin roof. That is high enough to walk under both mast and boom when passing across the rear deck and low enough to allow entry to my shelter.

You don't need to over build, or even to over think.

Would you happen to have pictures?

 

[bbarnes61]

I'd love to see pictures when you are finished with this project. Thanks

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Even though my upper deck was rebuilt and extended over the cockpit, the original mast remains. It is fairly complex hollow thin molded fiberglass with a fairly large footprint (7x12 inches). It is raked and has little little un-stayed spreaders for a nice look. Being un-stayed is really the only option for the walk around area on my fly bridge. The mast only supports the Garmin radar and a couple little deck lights. More than that I wouldn't trust.

Were I to replace it for some reason, I think that aluminum tubing welded to a generous thru-bolted deck plate would be the practical solution. It would be nice if it was shapely. Even nicer if it could be used for lifting. Both of which would really complicate matters.

 

[koliver]

Would you happen to have pictures?

Sorry for being so late to reply.
No I don't have any mast centric pictures. You can see my mast on my avatar picture, but that is too small to give you much. I am away from my boat until early April, but if you remind me then I can take some for you.

 

[nobles9596]

I built mine, If anyone needs pictures feel free to email me@ Nobles9596@aol.com

 

[SeaMoose]

Sorry to be so late to reply. I had an aluminum arch made. Lots of views on my You Tube channel "The Adventures of Yorksie and Me"

Advantages:
-- Don't have to raise and lower it to go under bridges
-- Tons of mounting space for lights, radar, antennas
-- Makes a nice grab rail when climbing up to the flybridge

Disadvantages:
-- To be low enough to make it under every bridge on the loop I have to be careful
not to hit my head when climbing up on the flybridge
-- It wasn't cheap to have this fabricated, cost around $800

Alan

 

[grahamdouglass]

I made a mistake when I constructed my mast

When I bought my boat it had a mast but no radar and it was very short, just peeking above the bimini. It was solid wood and very heavy. I replaced with a plastic 4" diameter white PVC drainage pipe. It sits on the aft flybridge deck with a hinged base. It consists of two parts, a 10' section with a 3' section that fits on the top. It rests on the aft edge of the flybridge. The 3' foot section contains the lights, radar, spreader and spreader lights and anchor light on top. It's all white and looks just like any other mast on a trawler.

The big problem is that it can't lift anything. I still have the original boom, so if I was to make the mast out of aluminum I could probably do that. But I would also have to make a block and tackle that would allow me to raise and lower the mast since on my own I don't don't think I would be able to do this with a heavier mast. The reason for having a lifting capacity would be to lift a small sailing dinghy on the aft cabin top in addition to the RIB sitting on a seawise on my stern.

So although the plastic pipe does the job in holding my radar and lights and it looks presentable as a trawler mast. I wished I had used aluminum for the lifting capacity.

You can see how the mast looks in my pictures in my album.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Speaking of masts - are most of these Asian trawlers made with masts that hinge & lower? Mine is a sedan, mast on top of the bridge deck

 

[nobles9596]

Yes they have a pin in the plate and can be lowered down pretty easily.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Mine is original and not hinged. Air draft is 16.5 feet. Just found a good deal on a boat house with a 15.5 foot opening, so there is may be a DIY tabernacle mast project in my future (which would be 14' air draft). I don't use it for lifting. It's for radar, anchor light, deck lights, and looks, in that order.

 

[Hyperion]

The mast on my GB 36 snapped when I was unloading an old 8D in Chesapeake Bay. I bought a used aluminum whisker pole for a spinnaker from Bacon Sails in Annapolis that was almost the exact diameter and made myself a new mast. Used the top plus another mahogany section to use as a joint between the aluminum and the base. Came out awesome:

 

[nobles9596]

https://photos.google.com/search/pipe/photo/AF1QipP6O75eTeZaCgoiwgoMPQj8EkTBv_aTPVOu1vDx

 

[nobles9596]

I made mine from 3" heavy wall aluminum pipe with mast head and attachment points for the stays
https://photos.google.com/search/boat/photo/AF1QipMGgOFpVR7DDe7HuLxz2O_IQXpmNdn3t6SzFIC_

 

[Old Sea Dog]

I have a fondness for dark hulls.

 

[Hyperion]

I have a fondness for dark hulls.

Same here. My current one is light blue but when I repaint it I will do so Flag Blue same as my old one in the pict.