I've been reading old post here abouth righting cats. I'm going to pratice this on a calm day in my cove just to be familiar with the technique etc. Many post mention "sealing the mast with silicone". Maybe a stupid question but, how do you "seal" a rivet on the mast with silicone? Is it just as easy as rubbing some silicone around the rivet with your finger?
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Gray Amick
Chapin, SC
'77 NACRA 5.2
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sealing mast
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 11:30 AM
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 11:38 AM
yes. just put a small blob on it. its more likely to leak around hounds, bolts, etc... but to be safe.. seal anywhere it can leak. 1cc of goop on your mast is better than 10 gal in it :) -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 01:04 PM
It's a good idea to use a marine adhesive sealant like 3M 5200 or the Sika equivalent, but any marine sealant will do. You may find you have to do the rivets more than once because they like to bubble so you may not get good coverage with the first application.
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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Posted: Jul 14, 2010 - 07:17 PM
If you look closely at the rivets you will see that they are mostly hollow. Wipe around the rivet with rubbing alcohol, or steal some of your wife's nail polish remover, that will ensure a clean surface & good bond for the silicone. As mentioned use a marine silicone or GE5200, or any product they use to install undermount sinks, it will stick like bear sh#t in a buffalo hide.
Seal all around the top cap of the mast, the mast hound, & every fitting & rivet. You will probably find that you can't get into all the nooks on the hound. Take a 6" piece of small diameter rubber tubing (available at any aquarium supply store)& push it onto the end of your silicone tube. You can now neatly apply sealant into constricted spaces, tape the tube to a thin stick if need be.
No need to worry about the base of the mast, you need some way for any water to get out, & the boat will float on its side, with only a couple of feet of the mast underwater.
I also sealed most of the rivets on the jib tracks, leaving a couple on each hull as a pressure equalizer.
PS If you have a place to tip your boat up steeply & drain all the water from each hull before you try your experiment, do it. A few gallons in each hull makes the boat a b.t.c.h. to tip, & a bigger one to right. Do not ask how I know this.
I cannot right my 5.7 myself (170 lb), but with an added crew of 180lbs it comes up in just a few seconds. Even after my buddy ended up in the rigging, still on the wire, turtling us, it came up pretty easy.
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Hobie 18 Magnum
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Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
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Nacra 5.0
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