Help! I can't get my mast sections apart on my full rig!
I only got my old boat a few weeks ago and have finished restoring it. When I was first fiddling around with the mast I noticed that the sections were quite loose fitting. The advice to me at that point was to wrap just enough gaffa tape around each of the two plasitic caps on the top section to make it snug. I acheived this with 1.5 'wraps' around the lower cap and 2.5 'wraps' around the upper cap. On the day in question I found that for some reason this arrangement was a little more than snug, and I needed to place the base of the mast up against a wooden pole and bang the sections together. No problem. Went sailing, had fun, capsized a couple of times, came back in and derigged. Now when I went to pull the sections apart I couldn't do it with my bare hands. Again, no problem, I've had this before, I simply hook the boom tang (is that what its called where the boom joins the mast??) behind a metal pole and, holding the top section, give it a few sharp heave-ho's towards me, and usually the two sections pop apart. What happens this time is that the upper plastic ring cracks, the rivet rips through the plastic and falls out, and the two sections come apart about 10-12 inches, only this time the upper plastic ring is still buried in the lower section. In this position, the mast is firmly stuck! Further attempts to bash the sections apart results in the rivets holding the boom tang on becoming loose, and trying to bash them back together results in the plastic cap at the bottom of the lower section breaking and getting smash into the mast. Add into the mix that this happened down at the sailing club and the mast complete is too long to be transported on the trailer I have access to, and you can see that I'm in a bit of a pickle!
My guess is that my gaffa tape has become bunched up inside thus making a lovely wedge to stop the sections from moving. So, does anyone have any suggestions for how to get the sections apart so I can repair the schemozzle I've created for myself???
I only got my old boat a few weeks ago and have finished restoring it. When I was first fiddling around with the mast I noticed that the sections were quite loose fitting. The advice to me at that point was to wrap just enough gaffa tape around each of the two plasitic caps on the top section to make it snug. I acheived this with 1.5 'wraps' around the lower cap and 2.5 'wraps' around the upper cap. On the day in question I found that for some reason this arrangement was a little more than snug, and I needed to place the base of the mast up against a wooden pole and bang the sections together. No problem. Went sailing, had fun, capsized a couple of times, came back in and derigged. Now when I went to pull the sections apart I couldn't do it with my bare hands. Again, no problem, I've had this before, I simply hook the boom tang (is that what its called where the boom joins the mast??) behind a metal pole and, holding the top section, give it a few sharp heave-ho's towards me, and usually the two sections pop apart. What happens this time is that the upper plastic ring cracks, the rivet rips through the plastic and falls out, and the two sections come apart about 10-12 inches, only this time the upper plastic ring is still buried in the lower section. In this position, the mast is firmly stuck! Further attempts to bash the sections apart results in the rivets holding the boom tang on becoming loose, and trying to bash them back together results in the plastic cap at the bottom of the lower section breaking and getting smash into the mast. Add into the mix that this happened down at the sailing club and the mast complete is too long to be transported on the trailer I have access to, and you can see that I'm in a bit of a pickle!
My guess is that my gaffa tape has become bunched up inside thus making a lovely wedge to stop the sections from moving. So, does anyone have any suggestions for how to get the sections apart so I can repair the schemozzle I've created for myself???