Is there anyone who ever successfullly replaced the Freedom neoprene (?) mast collar(s) around the mast(s) at the deck level? I have used a number of replacement solutions in recent years, from 3 inch strips of truck rubber mudguard (1/4" thick x 2) to sophisticated two-part resins poured in place. None of these replacements are as convenient as the original Freedom “doughnut”. Any sugggestions? Thanks!
I’ve used Spartite with moderate success. It still leaks, but it reduces the leaking. What problem are you having?
– Geoff
Leaking isn’t a huge deal for us as the main mast comes into the forward chain locker and the mizzen comes into the engine room. Not a lot a little bit of water can hurt so it’s been way down on our list of things to do. I’ll look forward to see what others have done. I don’t think I’d like to go the expense of the spartight system. I think we will most likely go with a conventional “rubber” collar.
George
If the issue is water, then we tried to solve it by making a collar out of Seamark, which is Vinyl backed Sunbrella. It has 2 large hose clamps that goes around the top and the bottom and tightens onto a ring of weather stripping material. In my case the, the boom vang attached to the mast, so there’s an arm that goes out and surrounds that. We’ve also recently started running a ring of rigging tape around the top to seal that better.
– Geoff
To keep water out, I’ve had good luck running a bead of Marine Silastic. It lasts about two years in the BVI sun and then I just dig it out and add a fresh bead.
- Rees
Hi Geoff, George,
I already made 2 booths with a material similar to your description of Seamark. Actually, it’s a material used to cover semi-trailer loads, really rugged. No more water infiltration!
The problem is that I’m taking down my masts every winter, and the Spartite-like resin is not a good solution, since it is not possible to take the masts out without destroying the “collar”. Other material I have used is rubber sheet with high compression modulus, but enventually the collar of the front mast fell in the forward locker while sailing in rough seas. Not a pleasant experience to have a free standing mast “rolling” around in the deck hole. You can only hope that it will not come out of its seat down below (actually, the haliard tension and the boom vang will prevent the mast from stepping out… as long as you keep the sail up!)
I’m trying to stay away from adhesives (silicone, polyurethane) as much as possible, for the reason stated above (taking the masts out). My ideal solution would be to put my hand on the original collars Freedom was using originally. But, hélas, Freedom Yachts is not answering calls anymore…
By the way Geoff, excellent picture. I can see that you have a custom made “ring” around on your deck hole which make it easy to attach your “booth” at the deck level.
It seems that Freedom sailors are broken down into two groups:
- Those who pull their masts with some regularity (for boat transport or winter haulout)
- Those who leave their masts up unless there’s a compelling need to pull it.
I’m addressing those in the latter group here
I have had great success with sealing the area between mast collar and mast with “caulk gunned” silicone (black). I put this in thirteen years ago, squirting down enough (after masking the mast, the collar and surrounding deck) to build up a sloped fillet of caulk from the mast downward to the collar (to shed water).
I tooled the silicone with an ICE CUBE. This is a wonderful approach which I hit upon in another life with swimming pool deck caulk. Spoons, fingers, and anything else used to tool it “dry out” at the most inopportune times, resulting in a mess. The ice cube won’t dry out, and the resulting surface is as slick as glass. The only caveat is that you need to make VERY sure that you get down enough material before you start tooling, as the moisture from the melting cube will prevent the seal that you want between the silicone and anything else (including the silicone that’s already down).
You can make up the “dams” to prevent the silicone from drooling down into the cabin from masking paper, tape, or a combination thereof. If you put them “below” the mast wedges, you’ll be bedding in the wedges and they will never work loose (but will be very difficult to remove when you have to), and you will use more silicone. Your choice. All you’re trying to do here is create a seal between the mast and the mast collar ring, and the thickness of silicone on top of the wedges is certainly sufficient to not be “too fragile” to hold up. Don’t mask the surface of the mast or collar to which you want the silicone to bond (with the idea that you’ll have an easier time removing it later). That might work for 60 or 90 days, but not for the long haul.
Use a “double layer” of masking tape on the mast and collar immediately adjacent to the void you are filling. I pulled the masking tape & paper immediately after application and tooling of the caulk. If you let the silicone set up first, then too large a “blob” may exceed the structural strength of the masking tape (after curing).
As I said above…thirteen years and counting…no mast leaks, no replacement or repair of the silicone. All I do is wash it at the same time as I scrub the decks. My boat resides in Corpus Christi, TX…sun is definitely a factor in the longevity of anything there, and it hasn’t affected the silicone in all this time.
The ice cube trick will work with any caulking compound including latex, oil base, silicones, rubbers, polysulfides, Boat Life, or what have you…on the boat or around the house. I suppose you could even use it to slick the seams when recaulking teak decks (a task that I never plan to have to do).
Outstanding!!! That’s exactly what I wanted to hear! I have used Permatex Ultrablack for various tasks since I discovered it about 10 years ago. I even use it in place of those stupid cork gaskets at the front and back of the intake manifold on small block GM V-8 motors. (BTW GM started doing the same thing!). The stuff is available in caulk gun tube size reasonably priced… I think I found a winner.
George
Thanks Geoff, for your picture of your current solution to making this area sealed.
I wonder if there is a place where I can get a shrink rubber tape to go around this area…
Maybe something like this can work, What do you think?
Go around the mast, shrink it, go around again shrink it- until it looks like it can with withstand the season
Randy
F25 Slangevar
Lake Erie,
Dunkirk NY
I used two part PU resin to cast both mast wedges and a watertight collar. If you want to prevent the resin from sticking to the mast or deck partners, cover it in vaseline. I chose to let the resin stick to the mast but not to the deck partners. If I have to take out the masts, the resin collar remains in the right spot around the mast (I hope). The PU resin is not UV resistant so I have to paint it over someday soon. Here are some pics.
Randy,
At every boat show that I go to, there’s someone that’s selling a tape that’s incredibly stretchy and bonds to itself. I have several rolls on board in black and white. I don’t know who makes the tape, but I think that would work well.
– Geoff
Geoff,
I believe there are more than one manufacture of that style of tape called, “self amalgamating” (I think). In the Air Farce we called it F-4 tape, probably because that was about all that was holding the old birds together towards the end of their very long and successful service. I just purchased two rolls very reasonably from Harbor Freight the other day, one colored white and one Black. When you are done making a repair with them you get a nice pliable water tight seal similar to butyl rubber. For the record, I don’t think they would make a good seal around the mast color. They stick to themselves much better than they stick to anything else. But for sealing a connection for a Single Side Band to a backstay for instance… can’t be beat.
George
Michel, I like your solution a lot! I currently have wood wedges at my mast partner and fear that
because of the fact that they can shift around some and be a serious pressure point and could inflict damage. Your set up would even out the pressures and provide a water proof/resistant barrier. I have been a mold maker and know of several different types of RTV rubbers that might be employed in this application. Do you know what the shear strength is on the material used to make your collar?
Alain,
I used PMC-790, a Shore A 90 two part PU rubber.
Indeed they use it to make molds to cast concrete garden statues and things like that. I used it in exact the same way as you have to use Spartite. So I made a bottom of plasticine, wood and tape and I smeared the deck edge with vaseline. I made a dam around the deck collar with masking tape and then I poured the liquid in. I first made a wedge all around the mast and after curing, I poured a second layer on top as a watertight seal on top of the deck collar. It looks real neat.
I am convinced that you have to use the hardest rubber (Shore A 90) and not the spartite Shore A 55-60. That’s meant to create a watertight wedge/seal on shrouded masts. If you want your unstayed mast to sit still and not move around in a soft rubber band and not tear off the watertight seal around it, you need wedges that cannot be compressed, so the hardest variety.
My PU wedges and seals are two years old now. No leaks yet.
On my F-33 I use the original Freedom rings around the masts below deck. However between the above deck aluminum collar and the mast I have spartite. This combination has been waterproof for 2 seasons so far (even though I used vaseline between the spartite and the mast) and yet the masts are easy to remove and reinstall (but I unbolt the collars and leave them on the mast).
Hi Alan,
I agree that for the watertight seal the somewhat softer Spartite is better than the harder PU I used. And it has a UV protector in it, I suppose.
I have used Rubbaweld for the last couple of years. Does the job and looks better than the previous rubber boot. 
Mark
Eleuthera
F30m-78