I am a converted mono sailor enjoying my new to me hobie 20. The last time I went sailing I was rigging the boat and noticed the step ball was loosey so I screwed it all the way down. BIG MISTAKE!!! As I was lowering at end of the day, with the mast about 6 inches offthe rear beam, the mast base jumped off the ball and the mast tip hits the ground!! Fortunately there was no damage to comp tip but the mast base showed groove marks where it was eaten by the mast step. Did screwing the ball down tight put the mast base in a bind at that tight angle and if so what heght do you want it? When raising and lowering at that tight angle the mast real wants to swing out wide, would raising step ball help with this?

So anyway I ordered a new mast base assembly from the hobie dealer. When I asked about sealing, his recommendation was to not seal the mast base in case there was a leak in top it could drain out. It looks as if the old unit is sealed. What do you think? Draining sounds good but if I turtle this baby, seems like I would be screwed. I have yet to flip the boat and am already nervous about righting as an issue.
BTW what is the process for sealing pop rivets?

I don't know about the ball height, but I suspect it should be tight. You should also have a pin that needs to be in place when raising and lowering the mast.

As for the sealing, I may be missing the point your dealer was trying to make, but what you describe is the worst advice I've ever heard.

The masts are supposed to be sealed. Period. If they are not, they will fill with water when capsized/turtled, making righting the boat nearly impossible.

Typically, there is a foam plug up inside the mast (looking up from the bottom). That needs to be sealed. Below this plug, there are lots of holes for rivets (cleats, etc.), so that is why the masts have the foam plug, to seal above those rivet holes. I'm fairly sure it's the same at the top (a foam plug below the comptip and hounds).

Of course, this is based on my experience with H16 masts. H20 masts have more hardware and may be different. If foam plugs aren't used, and/or if there is hardware between the plugs, it is important to seal all rivet holes as well.

Hope this helps.

Mike

I don't know much about the H20 mast...but yes, seal the base. Second, the mast ball should be on there tightly - you should have some sort of captive system that pins the mast to the ball when raising or lowering (remove the pin when sailing so if the mast were to come down for some reason, it can float free of the step).

From your description, it sounds like you are saying that the ball is so low to the beam that when the mast starts to lower, it gets wedged and the beam forces it to pop off the ball....that would definitely be some sort of problem. Could you take some pictures? There are some Hobie representatives that frequent this forum and I'm certain they can illuminate the situation.

To seal rivets, goo them up with 3M 5200 before setting them in the hole. Set them and then fill the center of the rivet with more 5200. Clean up the goo with Mineral Spirits (makes it look really nice!).

Ted,

Welcome new convert! I'll remark on this question:



You can eliminate almost all of the side to side wandering ("swing out wide") if you make up a couple of stabilizer lines. Run a piece of rope or cable from a trapeze line to the end of the front cross bar on each side of the boat. Those will we your stabilizer lines to be used during stepping and unstepping the mast.

Those lines are going to be taught when the mast is up and they will loosen slightly when the mast is on its way down. That is because of the height difference of where you attach on the end of the beam, compared to the pivot point on the mast base. So to get the lines at the exact length you need, adjust them when the mast is in the up position.

When stepping a mast with stabilizer lines, most all of the energy that once went into resisting side to side sway, now goes directly into supporting the weight of the mast. Stepping becomes much easier this way!

GARY

OK here is my mast raising drill. Rotate 90 deg, step and pin, rest mast with diamond wire in rear cradle, wench strap connected to port trap wires, I stand on back of trap guiding while wencher grinds. The swing problem develops when its close to the cradle. Going up is not so bad as the wencher just cranks it through the problem area. The problem with using the stabilizer is that I'm already using the port wires for raising and the mast swings one way, to stbd. It used to be annoying and something to watch for but when I screwed ball down, as soon as mast left cradle it really jumped strong to stbd and I had to fight it hard. This symptom got way worse after screwing ball down tight(3-4 whole turns)

There are about a thousand mast stepping techniques. You may find it easier to stabilize the mast on it's way up if you stand on the trampoline at the rear while the wincher starts cranking. You can also pick it up high enough to get the mast on your shoulder and then let the winch do the rest.

I agree that you must always seal the mast base as well as any where there is a thru mast fitting. In the past I would drill out one of the rivets in the mast base and replace it by drilling and tapping for a screw and then seal, if I flipped a few times I could easily remove a little silicone back the screw out and check for any water in the mast, and then put it back and reseal.