Painting a Mast

[casey1999]

Has anyone ever painted a mast at the dock with the mast stepped? Could you tell me what paint you used, how applied (brush or spary) and how you prepared the mast.
Regards

[tommays]

Not really seeing that work out to well

[DonScribner]

Casey,

Use a brand name 2-part polyurethane paint: roll & tip it. Start from the top. By the time that you get to the part that people will actually see, your handiwork, you will have become a master at mirror finish. If you can, support it only from the ends, and in such a way that you can spin it as you work. Loop a hank of line thru the mast head and hang it from a tripod. And you probably will want to tape the luff groove. Good luck and be sure to post pics of the project.

Don,

Biddeford, ME

[casey1999]

Originally Posted by DonScribner

Casey,

Use a brand name 2-part polyurethane paint: roll & tip it. Start from the top. By the time that you get to the part that people will actually see, your handiwork, you will have become a master at mirror finish. If you can, support it only from the ends, and in such a way that you can spin it as you work. Loop a hank of line thru the mast head and hang it from a tripod. And you probably will want to tape the luff groove. Good luck and be sure to post pics of the project.

Don,

Biddeford, ME

Ok, sounds like good advice, but can I do this with the mast still stepped on the boat? I know it would be a lot easier (also better product) to take the mast down, but to do that it would cost me in the thousands of dollars as our boat yards here in HI are limited and expensive, plus it would cost me several days time just to transit to the yard.
Regards

[Rockter]

Casey...

If you had a calm day alongside a dock, you can lift the mast off with a modest crane without having to haul the boat.

It is not easy, but certainly cheaper.

Painting a mast while still on the boat is not likely to be easy. I have never tried it.

[casey1999]

Originally Posted by Rockter

Casey...

If you had a calm day alongside a dock, you can lift the mast off with a modest crane without having to haul the boat.

It is not easy, but certainly cheaper.

Painting a mast while still on the boat is not likely to be easy. I have never tried it.

Yes, I have considered this, I have a place where it can be pulled and being deck stepped, relatively easy, but cranes are rare where I am so once I pay mob/demob and for use probably looking at $1000 or more- still might be worth it.

[Cruiser2B]

I had looked into painting my mast when I took mine down a few months ago. I researched on other restoration oriented sailing sites and the general consenses was to leave it bare aluminum and just wax it once a year. What i gathered was aluminum was difficult to paint(to stick) even with epoxy paints and just like every other painted surface was subject to scratches, scuffs. You would also have to maintain the paint job..meaning sand and repaint every so often because water will get under the paint. I am choosing to leave mine bare. it was recommended to wax it annually. I havent waxed mast yet but did do my boom and it looks great.
I am not telling you not to paint your mast because they do look good painted and wanted mine done but after some research decided i did not want the maintenance that came with it.
BTW this is all just what i gather from my reasearch, not first hand experience
Jason

[Siamese]

Nope. All I did was the mast on my old Grampian 26. Even with it on saw horses, it's a pain in the but. Have to get the old paint off, or whatever's on there. Then treat with the stuff that allows paint to stick. Then use the mil-spec primer, followed a few coats of epoxy paint. It's been a while, so I may have missed a step somewhere here. Butt pain. A larger mast in the vertical position, no way. Not sayin' it's never been done or can't be done, but I'd let it wait until I could do a proper job.

[Capt Len]

Cetol

[Faster]

Originally Posted by Capt Len

Cetol

Didn't know that they made Cetol for aluminum.....

Casey I think it would be tough to get a good result.. that would be a loooong time in the chair, you'd need a constant attendant and it would be really difficult to avoid having the halyard mar the surface above you near the masthead.

Is the mast anodized or painted now? If painted do you know what paint it is?

When we painted the stick on our last boat (a 40 footer) we sanded it to bare metal, mild acid wash, primer and then awlgrip. It was a big job with it on the ground, but it did turn out well. We sprayed it - after we'd sprayed the boat and by then with practice I have to say the mast turned out best of all. One of the more respected boat painters locally advised to use as thin a coat as possible for coverage..it was a fairly flexible, bendable rig and he said thick coats of paint can crack on masts that move a lot.

Around here there are a lot of public docks with small derricks.. you don't need a power crane, the mast isn't that heavy, in fact you might get it done by rafting a boat either side and using their halyards to drop the stick. Just keep in mind the leverage involved and try to find a good balance point.. on a deckstepped single spreader rig the spreaders are usually pretty close.

I'd take it down.. one way or the other..