Hi guys, so derigging sail. Mast stuck solid with sand. How do i seperate? Tried water from hose. Tried lightly tapping join whilst twisting. Tried hot water on outer. Have heard two booms can be used? Any other ideas?

2 booms.

My mate ties his to the toe bar .with a slip knot ..you will need two people ...if its stuck good .

once open you will have to give it a light sand ..

last time I was up there most guys where duct taping their mast to stop the sand getting in ..

your sand is so fine up there and it's floating in the water most of the time
.I'm still shaking sand out of my harness and that was 5 years ago
still better than rocks .like I have .

I had one recently that multiple people and 2 booms couldn't shift. Ended up taping a block of wood to one end just above the join and smacking it with a hammer. Just be careful not to hit the mast.

might not help now but dont twist the masts unless last resort as that can make problem worse. If you lightly bounce tip of mast on grass or lean against a bench/bin/whatever with towel under it & press down at joint, rotate & repeat a few times normally they'll come apart.

Ive managed to move it about 1mm by using water n bouncing mast base on grass. Can hear it moving. When bouncing it. Thought id use strap type oil filter remover. Wrap it around n crank it up. One on each piece. Failing that the booms gig should provide enough leverage. I hope... No biggie though. A one piece. Just like the old days. Spot of jousting anyone???

Like mkseven said... 'bounce n rotate.'
Just keep going as it crushes sand to powder.

Use two booms to get apart and put a run of duct tape around the joint every time you put the mast together in future (first rule of rigging that grand master Waricle taught myself and Adam when we were learning)

Try submerging completely.
Then work gently, won't need much effort.

+ 3 , bounce and rotate.

+1 bounce n rotate

Have you tried the upside down 'wobble' technique?

Hold the mast vertical, with the mast tip on the grass. Grab it about chest to shoulder high and shake it hard, forward and back to get a good wobble going. The heavier end at the top naturally wants to pull out, and the wiggling at the joint must move the sand a bit at the same time.

A French guy taught me this technique and it can be amazing how well it works. Have seen masts stuck where 3 to 4 big guys pulling each side were stuck but a few wobbles and she was apart. Give it a try.

Here we go again. How bloody hard is it to tape the mast joint before you go out. 50mm duct tape costs 2 parts of nothing and takes about 2 seconds to put on. One less problem in the world.

Joustin sticks? Tell him he's dreamin.

Yep i know, tape tape tape. Wasnt in my usual sailboardin car. None at hand. The mast issue is the tip of the iceberg. Same day i lost my carkeys n got nutted while about 300m from shore. Had to swim it back then walk 2km to get my other car to get my stuff home.Thats when mast got sanded. Tide came in n sail was washing in shore break while i was away.What a day!!! Guess thats my bad luck outta the way for awhile.

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joe windsurf said..
+1 bounce n rotate

Joe, yet another choice interlude dude. Nice work!! Gotta laugh.

Please don't hit it with things
Carbon is brittle.

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Mark _australia said..
Please don't hit it with things
Carbon is brittle.

Ive only tapped firmly with my soft handled sparky screwdrivers.

^^^ Sorry not you - I was referring to some of the brutal suggestions.

Wiggle and twist then maybe resorting to water flow and wiggle has always worked

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Ezric said..
Have you tried the upside down 'wobble' technique?

Hold the mast vertical, with the mast tip on the grass. Grab it about chest to shoulder high and shake it hard, forward and back to get a good wobble going. The heavier end at the top naturally wants to pull out, and the wiggling at the joint must move the sand a bit at the same time.

A French guy taught me this technique and it can be amazing how well it works. Have seen masts stuck where 3 to 4 big guys pulling each side were stuck but a few wobbles and she was apart. Give it a try.

I like this one but wanna know if it depends on which piece has the male / female ferrule?

EZRIC you are a LEGEND!! Did the upside down trick on the grass. Grabbed it at chest height n above my head. Shook it violently,repeatedly. Maybe 10sec. Careful of its whip back when you cease shaking. Itll try knock you over.It moved slightly. Shook it about another 6 times. Hey presto UNDONE.
WICKED!!! No cracking noises either. Phew!!! Thought there might be issues putting that much force on the ferrule, it might break?
EZRIC you deserve a BEER!!!
Note 1.hold yr foot at mast tip when shaking.
2.mast tip will dig a hole quite deep in the grass. ( for all you lawn lovers out there)
3.My mast top slid over the base spigot.

This guy had the same problem have to keep in mind the upside down trick

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Ezric said..
shake it hard, forward and back to get a good wobble going.
A French guy taught me this technique and it can be amazing how well it works.

you can trust a french to wobble out of a sticky situation

The wobble thing is one hell of a great tip. Having said that, only had problems when I forgot to tape the joint...

Hey Olskool that is great to hear, glad it worked. Looking forward to that beer one day.

Mark my masts are Severne with ferrule on the bottom section of mast, but I reckon it might work both ways. It would be good to hear if it does.

i wobble far too much as it is, it definitely wont be pretty if i start wobbling more

with twisting just be careful have seen broken ferrule from it & i had a mast which from attempts built up so much heat it became permanently stuck. Some of the ultra light mast tips can elongate slightly so you might be turning it to even tighter, some sand will crush some can cut grooves into your mast. & masts arent really designed to be twisted, when twisting the mast can flex quite a bit maybe up to 90 deg which doesnt help your efforts & loads alot of energy into the mast. Almost every seriously stuck mast ive seen gorrilla'd with has broken within the next few sessions.

& no need to use tape, make sure your mast is free from sand on rigging, difficult in sandy rigging spots that shovel the sand in there, double check it's properly together before downhaul but mostly dont leave your sail in shallow waters edge.

Go to the beach, ask 7 fellow sailers and use them or put say 4 booms that may work any more booms and it will break

good luck.

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mkseven said.
& no need to use tape, make sure your mast is free from sand on rigging, difficult in sandy rigging spots that shovel the sand in there, double check it's properly together before downhaul but mostly dont leave your sail in shallow waters edge.

Or away from the water on a sandy beach when it's blowing sand.
But the tape thing is the easiest, so it doesn't matter where you leave the rig.
Most people around my area use electrical tape, not duct tape, no residue, more solid, cheaper, and you can use the same piece of tape several times.

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Mastbender said..

mkseven said.
& no need to use tape, make sure your mast is free from sand on rigging, difficult in sandy rigging spots that shovel the sand in there, double check it's properly together before downhaul but mostly dont leave your sail in shallow waters edge.

Or away from the water on a sandy beach when it's blowing sand.
But the tape thing is the easiest, so it doesn't matter where you leave the rig.
Most people around my area use electrical tape, not duct tape, no residue, more solid, cheaper, and you can use the same piece of tape several times.

Have resisted taping the join for eons, arguing with others on here that it's unnecessary coz you just have to be more careful rigging up around sand. After the last two stuck mast dramas (which is no drama since I've worked out an easy singlehanded way of getting them apart once home), now using electrical tape every time with one less thing in life to stress me! Also had masts come apart at join most times when sleevng mast up sail and tape has stopped this from happening.

In saying that, 2 each his (or her) own!!!!