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Ideas for Cosmetic Improvement of Black Mast

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The estimate for repainting is 6K, which would be overkill.

My rigger swears Ericson Kenyon masts are anodized black, but I've always believed it's
painted. Doesn't look too bad, just dull. Not much corrosion.

The rigger has talked to Ballenger, who recommend a polish/cleaner/protectant for sprucing up older anodized masts.

If it turns out to be painted, maybe we can clean and wax it.

Anyone had success with the black Kenyons?
 
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Cory B

Sustaining Member
Our 1984 black Kenyon mast was definitely painted.

We had the yard sand & repaint it (spray 2-part) when we had the mast out. We took it apart and put it back together ourselves. Assembly and disassembly is likely half of the $6K quote you got? Ours cost well less than 1/2 that to paint, including boom and spreaders, but it was a few years ago now.

Still looks nearly new 8 years later.
 
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Mort Fligelman

Member III
Mast Refinishing

Christian: Like Cory, my 35-3 circa 1987 mast was painted......

I mentioned in a previous thread that the PO had wire halyards......the mast was scraped bare where they hit, and when the boat was in Florida the salt air started to do its magic.....it was definitly a painted black mast.

I intended to ship the boat to Illinois, and got some quotes by local yards there prior to shipment......I don't know about the yards in and around Marina del rey, but compared to your quote it was double.......The cost to awl grip it in white in Florida, at a definite cannot do it yourself yard was in 2010 25% more than your quote.....Mast, Boom, Spreaders.....it has held up beautifully for the past 5 years......

I had no intention of making it a diy project at my stage of life......but then I also would not have attempted the trip across the Pacific to Hawaii...

Looking at all of your posts, I am sure that before this project is undertaken you will find a way to DIY.....and it will put the professionals (Note: amatures posing) to shame.....be interesting to see what route you take.....

Regards and good luck
 

lnill

Member III
Was your quote including removal and replacement of all hardware? I had my 38-200 mast repainted two years ago for $3k. But I stripped all hardware, stripped the old paint, and replaced all hardware myself. So if your quote is for all, sounds reasonable to me.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The 6K includes hauling, pulling the mast, stripping, sanding , "alumaprep", painting with LP, and rerigging. Mast only.

But Victor, the estimator, warns that most people spend more than that, since some hardware may break or be unacceptable after removal, wiring work needed, old fixtures replaced and so on.

I think he is also saying that the yard will decline to rerig a boat if the shrouds are no good, for liability reasons.

On reflection, I can guess some of the issues they have encountered in the past.
 

Jeff Asbury

Principal Partner
Well I know that your boat is a bit bigger than my E-27. But back in 2004 I was able to get all my standing rigging replaced, as well as have the mast, boom and spreaders painted with awl grip for $2,800.00, by SeaTek Rigging in Wilmington. Granted that was back in 2004 when Pedro Vargas was the owner. I think I did pay Cabrillo Boat Yard a separate $150. For the use of their crane to step the mast.

This is current info from their web site:
>>> Mast Painting <<<
The paint on your carbon mast is not there only for cosmetic purposes , the suns UV damages the carbon fiber of the mast,
We offer a complete re-paint service in our 80' spray booth,
Full mast disassembly, Strip old Paint, Paint and Re-assemble, Price = $ 3,000 (Does not include removal and replacement of Mast).

http://www.seatek.info/products

SeaTek
508 East. E street, suite B
Wilmington, CA 90744
Phone: (310) 549-1800
Fax: (310) 549-1116
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The 6K includes hauling, pulling the mast, stripping, sanding , "alumaprep", painting with LP, and rerigging. Mast only.

But Victor, the estimator, warns that most people spend more than that, since some hardware may break or be unacceptable after removal, wiring work needed, old fixtures replaced and so on.

I think he is also saying that the yard will decline to rerig a boat if the shrouds are no good, for liability reasons.

On reflection, I can guess some of the issues they have encountered in the past.

My old re-rig story is here in the forum archives, but perhaps it's worth "reiterating again" that when we had the spar down in '02, we found that all (!) of the 1988-factory installed fixtures were shot. Mind you, the lights all functioned, but it turned out that no bulbs could have been replaced without destroying the lenses and/or bases. New wiring was run, a new led anchor light was put on top and a new combo foredeck / steaming light on the face of the spar. New vhf antenna and Spar-Fly. New wind sensor.

It would have been False Economy in the extreme to ignore this stuff while the spar was down and access was easy. Having an anodized Kenyon spar, we had no paint to contend with, however. Our spreaders and bases were ok, too.
And, fast forward to 2014, (sigh...) this fall s large bird (?) knocked the vhf antenna rod off of the loading coil !!
Something else to fix this spring, and I will need a limber young person to go all the way up there and fix it. :0

Another .02 worth of trivia.

:rolleyes:

Loren
 

Pat C.

Member III
Had mine stripped and reworked all hardware back in 1999. It definitely was black anodized. Definitely looked pretty worn as well. My boat is an 83 model, perhaps the finish varied with the years built. They sandblasted and repainted it with shiny black imron. Still looks great 15 years later. You are right, this job will make a striking cosmetic improvement. If memory serves mine was about 6 k as well back then. Had the Valiant yard do it for me, back then they were still building Valiants.

Probably do not want to try to DIY... My brother worked with these paints (Imron and such) while working at with Peterbuilt semis years ago. He says the paint is bulletproof (15 years hasn't fazed it) but very technical to use and put on. And a hazmat risk as well.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Looks great, stands out on the hill above the marina from all the other masts. Justify it to yourself that you want all the fasteners rebedded with tefgel, you want to protect the aluminum from the salt air. We all know vanity has nothing to do with it.

I have pics but have no idea how to post them. Will work on that.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
I had my mast and boom done in December of 2013. My boat is an E26-2 so it is a smaller stick than the rest of you are talking about (with the exception of maybe Jeff). I had it LP'd and it looks beautiful. However, I had more than just a paint job, so it's a little hard to give an apples to apples comparison. But to have all the mast hardware removed; the mast and boom bead blasted; multiple coats of white LP paint sprayed; some replacement lights, new wiring (including antenna coax), new boom outhaul hardware, new topping lift, halyard restrainer added; chainplates removed, inspected, and in a few cases replaced; all new standing rigging and turnbuckles installed; was a bit over $4K.
 
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Pat C.

Member III
There is hope for me regarding these IT issued after all. Didn't look into how to rotate them, figured I would stop while I was ahead (Admin fixed 02/09/20).

Took these late last year for reference regarding a possible masthead project back then. Still looks the same.
 

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Pat C.

Member III
Don't know how the pic getting the bottom checked this spring got in there. Spoke too soon regarding the IT thing.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Pictures from a home computer need to be rotated and otherwise prepared by cropping or enhancing before uploading.

Windows Photo Viewer will do the basics. I usually use Picasa, the free Google product. Or Photoshop, which is overkill for simple adjustments.

If a photo causes mysterious trouble, it may be oversized. Google "resize" for whatever photo program being used.

Regarding that picture at the bottom:

There is a glitch in the forum software that can only be defeated by deleting all pics and starting over.

The good news is that photos remain on the Ericson site, and you can use them again if they again become relevant. Hosting our own photos means no dead links, a plague that afflicts many other sites.
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Prices

The SeaTek pricing is interesting. Thanks, I'll check that out.

Alan, where did you go for the work?
 

sailorman37

Member II
I have a 1980 Ericson 30+ that had a black mast. While in the yard two years ago with the mast down for rewiring decided to paint the mast. I sanded down the mast, etched the bare spots, primed the whole mast with chromate paint and sprayed 2 part on the mast. One week later while checking the paint, I found you could scape it off with minimal effort. Seemed that the original black coating was not typical paint. It had a slightly slippery feel to it even after sanding and solvent wash. Only the etched bare spots seemed to hold the paint.

So I sanded down the whole mast to bare metal, etched, primed and sprayed with 2 part Napa Automotive paint. It is holding up very well.

I would test paint on the black to see if it will hold. In the end it took way too much time, effort (equals pain) and cost. Seriously consider having the professionals do it.

Here are a few pictures of the whole process.




.DSC02386.jpgDSC02493.JPG2013-02-27 10.14.38.jpgDSC02506.JPG2013-04-04 07.57.42.jpg
 
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Rick R.

Contributing Partner
Christian that price seems pretty high. Maybe that's the Marina Del Ray "tax". Ours would be less than half that price here.

On the color. I've often wondered why our 89 mast is white and not black.
 

Randy Rutledge

Sustaining Member
Rick,

My mast boom and hardware are black on my Mirage 236 when in your sunny area they are hot enough to cook a 1' thick steak well done in minutes. You might be thankful for the white mast.
 

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
Rick,

My mast boom and hardware are black on my Mirage 236 when in your sunny area they are hot enough to cook a 1' thick steak well done in minutes. You might be thankful for the white mast.

We replaced the main halyard and got rid of that graffiti-painting wire/rope but the spin is still an angry guitar string. As a result our white mast looks like a giant osprey held on and scraped her way from top to bottom. The rigger told me a few moths ago to not worry, he's seen much worse. Sounds a little like that Monty Python sketch, "It's only a flesh wound ".....

Still, I am amazed at the cost of coating/painting a mast (boom) in California.
 
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