Paint mast?

[Dufour4800-175]

Hello, i have a Dufour 4800 and the mast is looking bad!!! As you can see on the picture. It looks like the original paint since there is still some faded dufour sticker/decal on it. I was wondering if i should repaint it or should i use an other technique (anodising or powdercoating?) im looking to do it myself! Anoyone ever done such a task? Any advices appreciated!!

Thanks
Alex

[FlightPlan]

Well, you can do it yourself if you know how, what to use, and have the time. I chose not to attempt that even though I consider myself a good painter, and I am retired and have the time.

Here is the deal:\

1. You must prepare the surface after removing all, all the hardware. To do this, you must remove the mast.

2. You should sand blast or sand the entire mast and clean it.

3. You should chose a good paint and follow the manufacturers instructions without shortcuts or deviations or the product will not work properly.

4. You mentioned powder coating; this process should be done professionally and requires serious prepping and a booth that can handle the size of your mast. I don't recommend that process.

5. Painting the mast is more logical for the size I believe yours to be.

6. Next is needing a clean environment to remove the old paint and not violate any clean air and water regulations to avoid the obvious EPA people.

7. Most marina's will not let you sand and paint in the air if they are rated as a clean marina.

8. So you get the above accomplished successfully, and not you need to re-install the hardware. This requires using a marine grade silicone and a preparation material to deal with the dissimilar metal contact with the mast and hardware. I can't remember the name, but it looks like mustard.

9. Assuming all is going well to this point, you will spend several hours or days shaking down the reinstall and tuning the rig until all is settled down.

Ok, I know this sounds like doom and gloom. But it's a project that takes a lot of equipment and time. My experience two years ago was somewhat painful and expensive and I am merely passing on the info and lesson learned. I have a 82 foot keel stepped mast that also has a Hood Furling system inside. I contracted JSI in Tampa to prep and paint the mast for about $5,600.00. Because of the size, I was forced to contract a escort trucking firm to haul it from Palmetto Florida to St. Petersburg Florida where JSI had a 100 foot oven to bake the finish. They sand blasted the old paint, prepped the surface and applied three coats of Emeron. The escort cost to travel 35 miles one way, cost me $3,000.00 round trip. The removal and replacement of the mast cost me around $6,000.00. I have no blisters and the paint still looks new. The blisters will occur if you use the wrong materials for re-attachment of hardware.

Then there are those little add on's that while you are this far along, it may be prudent to look at fresh halyards, new lights, horn, radar, bird deterants, mast boot, cables, etc.

It was worth it on my boat, but I'm anal about appearance and budget these projects in advance to tackling them and all and all, I came in on the budget with the exception of shake down issues.

Good Luck if you do it yourself, but I would rather be sailing.

Bob

[Krogensailor]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my Krogen 38. Including repainting the mast. Fortunately for me I am not a perfectionist. Perfection destroys perspective. I am a function first guy. It has to look good, but first it has to do it's job. My mast had been painted before. I sanded all of the second coat off and got down to the base coat. I acid etched the entire mast knowing that it was the open aluminum that required etching. I primed three coats. And am putting on the finish coats this week. Time so far? About 40 hr's. Cost to date? $400 in materials and $550 in labor. I hire and supervise my labor force. I am the foreman and the expert. I don't tell anyone that I get most of my info here. Environmental issues? Plastic floor and a plastic type shed, pvc and cinder blk.s I used the first but didn't require the second. Paint used is a water based epoxy. System Three. Sprayed with a Fuji HVLP turbine unit. So far it's looking good. The end product will be the tell. I'll post some pics. Bout time I learned how to do that. As to perspective. This thing has to look great for the first 20 feet or so. That's the part one can see standing on the deck. Above that, perfection is a wast of time and energy. I know some will look down their noses at this effort, but as I stated, I am into function, safety, and fun, and esthetics. In that order. Making others care or endorse what and how I do what I do is wayyyyy down on the list. Got constructive input. I'm like Ross Perot, only much better looking. My mast is 53'. If you have ever painted a car, paint it yourself. If not find an out of work car painter and be his labor. Good luck.

[HansSolo]

We just repainted our mast in june. All in all it was not that hard of job and we are glad we did it (took us around 2 weeks start to finnish). Our full write up on it is here MASTering the art of painting Tef-Gel works well for isolating dissimilar metals when its time to put all of the hard wear back on. FlightPlan lays out the process well IMO, however if you do it your self you can save a lot of $. I also agree that this would be the time to tackle any other mast related projects you may have (rewiring, lights, rigging, etc)

[Dufour4800-175]

Thanks for all the input!! Taking the mast down sure seems like a hell of a job and all the prep work too. Im looking forward to see your pictures, and im still undecided on wherther i should do it myself, hire someone, or even wait!! You all gave me nice food for thought and i appreciate it. Ill keep you posted on future developpements! Ps. Sorry for my english, im from the french part of Canada!

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I've thought of doing it in the future.

Here's a video of a guy who describes repainting his mast. He has a good series of interviews of other cruisers too.

just painted Paragon's mast with Awlgrip Awlcraft 2000 - YouTube

[Cheechako]

I've done it on a 44 footer (boat). My original plan was to strip it and leave it. But I found out that it's very hard to completely get rid of all the paint, and there was filler in a few spots (welded sections etc). I did all the work in the yard and then had the pro paint when all prepped. only cost me $200 plus paint for him to do it. If I was doing one and the mast stripped clean on the lower ~6 ft... I would leave that lower part bare aluminum... that's where all the corrosion seems to happen. I had a mast pro rebuilt and painted (acid strip, chromate primer etc etc) after less than two years cruising it was bubbling again bad.... all on the lower 5 ft or so.
Those are my life lessons....

[Dufour4800-175]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I've done it on a 44 footer (boat). My original plan was to strip it and leave it. But I found out that it's very hard to completely get rid of all the paint, and there was filler in a few spots (welded sections etc). I did all the work in the yard and then had the pro paint when all prepped. only cost me $200 plus paint for him to do it. If I was doing one and the mast stripped clean on the lower ~6 ft... I would leave that lower part bare aluminum... that's where all the corrosion seems to happen. I had a mast pro rebuilt and painted (acid strip, chromate primer etc etc) after less than two years cruising it was bubbling again bad.... all on the lower 5 ft or so.
Those are my life lessons....

Is that on a steel boat? I dont seem to have a corrosion problem but the paint is gone from friction with the sails (i think) and from the age (30 years old).

[Cheechako]

No... fiberglass, but typically it's from the mix of winches, SS and alum in the lower area with salt spray. It sounds like your boat is very "neutral" in that area which is great. repainting sounds like a good choice.