Mast unstepping - silly question

[sailr4]

I have never removed a keel stepped mast, so,excuse my ignorance. After the mast is removed, how do you seal the deck hole? Need more than a tarp if the boat gets moved across the country.

[Phil Spicer]

 To cover the hole I cut a piece of vinyl that is about 2 inches larger than the outside of the deck fitting. Hold the vinyl in place with the clamp that seals the bottom of the mast boot. This has made it through heavy storms before the winter cover was on.
     Just my solution.

[Noah]

Or, duct tape some sheet vinyl/tarp material, or plywood, over the hole.

[Jim Hardesty]

The guys around  here cut 2 pieces of plywood and use carriage bolts and wingnuts thru both to hold in place.  Some use weather stripping to seal up tight and some sealer on the top of the carriage bolts.

Hope this helps,
Jim

[DaveBMusik]

A spare piece of shrinkwrap lying around

[Ron Hill]

Rob : Phil has the best solution.
Now is also the time to think about a new mast boot and some new (slightly larger) mast wedges.  I went for 6 rather than 4.  Just make sure they are made out of hard wood.

A few thoughts

[Ron Hill]

Rob : I'm sure you have things well in hand - just a reminder that there is a set of instructions on "Removing/reinstalling a keel stepped mast" in the Mainsheet tech notes!!

A thought

[Jon W]

Some good suggestions, just remember it's ~3,000 mile trip so pick something with the best odds of being there at the end of the trip.

All comes down to time and money. When the mast is down it's a good time to check that the internal conduit is secure and maybe add a few extra rivets, check the masthead sheaves, the hardware for a spinnaker (whether or not you have a spinnaker), and condition of your anchor light.

Good upgrades are an LED anchor light or go for a combination tri-color and anchor light, also consider LED spreader lights. If you do the tri-color remember you can't have the OEM deck level nav lights and the tri-color on at the same time. I have a breaker for the OEM deck level and a separate breaker for the tri-color. The idea is use the tri-color in the ocean and the deck level navigation lights in the harbor/bay (stole this idea from Noah).

[Roc]

If you need to temporarily seal a hole from the elements and make it water/weather proof, use Gorilla tape.  If the hole is large and you need to drape plastic over it, use Gorilla Tape to secure the edges of the plastic.  Duct tape will not work outdoors. 

[sailr4]

Lots of great ideas.  Thank you.  As for Gorilla tape, I am currently using it to hold plastic over my fixed port during repair.  Strong stuff!!

Rob

[rmbrown]

I second the addition rivets in the conduit.  IF it's still attached to the mast... mine had rivets every 4'... I'd put 'em every 2, at least in the center 1/3 of the mast.  It's gonna be WAY easier than replacing it. :)