This late 70s vintage fixer upper Sol Cat is my first catamoran. After a month of repair and finding missing parts I have had it out a half dozen times. The last time out in 15 to 20 knot winds on Lake Ontario, I managed to pitch pole it and put the mast in the water. I was very impressed with how quickly planting the bow brings the whole show to a stop. Anyway, with out belaboring all the things I did wrong to end up in the water, here is important part:
The boat mast ended up pointing in the leeward direction, my partner and I (both about 175 lbs each) immediately stood on the stern bottom hull, grabbed the righting line and leaned back. (both sails were uncleated).
We seemed to be loosing ground, I stood on the hull and continued leaning while my partner attempted to swim the mast towards the wind. While this was going on, the mast was sinking.
By the time he joined me back on the hull, the mast was banging on the bottom. From the angle we were at, I'm guessing 15 to 20 feet deep.
The boat eventually drifted so the mast was pointed windward, but she was not showing any signs of righting.
Our local fire department rescue boat came out and righted in one uniform tug. I moved on the tramp as it was righting. That's when fire hose pressure level water sprayed out of the main halyard sheave hole. (The main halyard runs up the inside of the main.) It sure looked like the whole 30 foot of mast was full of water. It sprayed for 20 seconds(?).
As far as I can tell, this mast is essentially an open cylinder. and water can easily enter through the halyard line hole in the top of the mast. It seemed like the boat was doomed to turtle within 5 minutes.
I'm looking for suggestions. I'm considering getting a Mamma Bob. (Will the installation of a Mamma Bob make the leaky mast a non-issue.)
Thanks in advanced for your help.
Thanks,
Sol Cat 18 Mast fills with water...fast!
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Posted: Jul 12, 2009 - 08:10 PM
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Posted: Jul 12, 2009 - 09:52 PM
Halyard should be external. Change & plug holes, silicone rivit heads. Baby bob is all you need, but you must have bows pointing to wind, mainsheet loose, jib tight, body weight just kissing the water. -
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Posted: Jul 12, 2009 - 11:13 PM
So the "through the mast" halyard is generally not done because it compromises sealing the mast.
Any thoughts about just getting a baby bob or mama bob and leaving the mast in it's current configuration?
Thanks. -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2009 - 07:40 AM
I disagree with leaving the jib tight, in a strong breeze you stand a real good chance of the boat sailing away, or dragging you with it as you hold on the dolphin striker bar and you are not able to get back on the boat. Please read everything that you can about righting a catamaran, and by all means SEAL YOUR MAST, THAT MEANS EVERY THROUGH MAST FITTING, make sure that you remove any old silicone, and wipe the areas with acetone before resealing. There is a thread about the boat leaving sailors on www.catsailor.com great information.
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Posted: Jul 14, 2009 - 12:04 AM
Roger that, the mast essentially should be so water-tight that it becomes your "float". The mast head is a sheave or pulley through which the halyard runs on the outside of the mast, do as Prindle Pete suggests, remove mast head, mast base, check inside of mast for corrosion, superfluous items that don't need to be in there, apply silicone liberally, re-rivit, seal rivits, and check everything else attached to mast such as mast tang, halyard hook, etc, etc. Then take the mast out to a large body of water and see if it floats.
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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Posted: Jul 14, 2009 - 10:23 PM
If anyone is interested I put a photo of the mast head in the photo album section under SolCat. I couldn't figure out how to just past it here.
Thanks for the help!
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Posted: Jul 14, 2009 - 10:37 PM
I emailed you a picture of what an external halyard masthead looks like (my solcat 18).
You can see there are two sheaves on either end of the masthead in mine. This allows the halyard to run up one side of the mast, over both sheaves on top of the masthead, and down the other end of the mast.
I wonder if you could get another masthead that would fit that mast profile from someplace like dwyer (www.dwyermast.com/). I have ordered stuff from the before when rebuilding a mast for another boat. They specialize it spars for smaller craft.
Dan
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Posted: Jul 15, 2009 - 12:10 AM
I have had several solcats and have never seen a mast head that looked like that, the solcat had a double sheave. Could the mast have been changed out with one from another boat? what does the mast base look like?
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Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
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Posted: Jul 15, 2009 - 09:09 PM
It is very possible that this is not the original mast for the solcat. I don't have a photo of the mast base. I can tell you a rodent took up residence in the mast prior to my purchase. -
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Posted: Jul 20, 2009 - 12:10 AM
There is a Masthead for a Solcat on ebay right now (7-19-09) auction ends in 3 days. It's used, the pictures are bad, but at least it is a Solcat masthead (thats what mine looks like also).
... Im just wondering - if the mast is sealed is the baby bob needed? Im considering buying a mast float also... but $ is an issue right now, so buying an extra tube of silicon may be the way to go?
~ RGD -
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Posted: Jul 20, 2009 - 08:57 AM
Damm river rats,
they do it all the time.. 
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~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
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