Anyone have experience using Spartite product instead of wedges? Seemed like a good solution but now my carbon fiber mast is stuck. Wedges would not stay in place. Boat is now on the hard outside as a result, instead of warm and cozy in the barn.
Bill Wildman
Coddiwomple 324
#114 East Jordan
Once you fix that problem, Bill, consider getting the composite as opposed to the wooden wedges and you should not have that problem.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
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I agree with Joe if you’re going to give up on Spartite, but Spartite really holds the mast in place while distributing the bending loads in a uniform manner.
I used Spartite on my Wylie 34 a decade ago, and it was very tough to pull the mast after its first year of active racing. I learned, however, that if you coat surface of the deck casting with petroleum jelly the mast will slide out more easily, taking the Partite plug with it. Come springtime, the plug will guide the mast back through the casting (with a new coat of petroleum jelly) and secure it in place, which also seals the mast opening from leaks. Once the Spartite is in place, it’s good for several seasons.
I now use hard rubber wedges on my N36, which I don’t race, and unstep the mast every second season for a thorough inspection.
Barry Connell
N36 Nocturne
Newburyport, MA
Thanks Barry for your input. It was okay the first season and the Spartite plug gave me trouble seating the mast all the way down when recommissioned in Spring. Did use petroleum jelly when stepping. I think the problem with Spartite is that the mast is tapered and the deck collar is not. So pressure becomes tighter and wider as the mast is lifted. Really like the way it’s securing the stick in heavy seas however. I’ll enjoy it this season and figure out how to remove the product next fall. Go back to wedges eventually. Got the boat trucked in from Canada beginning of Covid. Been a “learn as you go” type thing since I had no previous experience with Nonsuch and no time with previous owner. The wedges just seemed substandard to me and kept falling through with the flexing carbon fiber.
Bill Wildman
Coddiwomple 324
#114 East Jordan
Bill,
I have a two year old carbon fiber mast in my Nonsuch 33.
The spar designer indicated that wedges must not be used with the carbon fiber mast as they point load the mast. Spartite is the proper solution.
The deck collar has lugs on the inside that create the pockets for wedges. The collar tapers from bigger to smaller from the top of the collar to about 2/3 of the collar depth. Below that the collar ID gets bigger again (I am pretty sure this is true).
I called Mike Quill in preparation for the install of the Spartite looking for some tips. Mike’s suggestion was to machine the lugs out of the collar ID and to use plenty of petroleum jelly on the collar and mast.
A local machine shop chucked the collar into a lathe and cut out the lugs leaving a taper from big at the top of the collar tapering to smaller to the point where the original taper reversed.
Before pouring the Spartite, I dammed the collar beginning at the taper reversal point. I centered the mast in the collar by inserting short wedges from the bottom of the collar. The wedges occupied a space no higher than 3/4” from the bottom of the aluminum collar. My damming technique was to use the foam strips supplied with the Spartite and I topped the foam with plumber’s putty. The Spartite kit came with really hard modeling clay. I could not figure out how get the hard modeling clay inserted on top of the foam without pushing the foam out of place. The plumber’s putty was very pliable and worked. The Spartite pour went well but after the fact I saw that I was lucky for the foam to not escape out the bottom.
Before pouring the Spartite, I coated both the mast and the inside of the collar very liberally with petroleum jelly. The mast and collar released with no problem both times the mast was pulled for the winter. I think the key to that success is the tapered collar with no lugs and plenty of petroleum jelly when the Spartite was poured.
The Spartite sticks tenaciuosly to aluminum and painted carbon fiber/ epoxy unless those materials are well coated with petroleum jelly.
Mike also told me tales of being hired after the fact to extricate masts from stuck Spartite jobs. As I recall, unbolting the aluminum collar from the deck was required. I don’t recall if destructive cutting of the aluminum collar was required or if the Spartite was picked out from between the aluminum collar and the mast.
Ward Woodruff
N33 #8 Margery
Niantic Bay, CT
Bill
I too have a composite mast and have used Spartite for many years both on the mast step and in the collar. Yes the key is petroleum jelly. My mast has been removed three times over the past decade, never a problem. Having said that I wasn’t there it when the riggers did their work.
Ray Dykstra
Timaru Nui, Nonsuch 324
Brentwood Bay, B.C.
The Spartite on our 260 is firmly attached to the mast. Have pulled the mast three times in 20 years and just unbolt the aluminum collar. First time we had to lift pretty hard to unstick whatever caulking was used. This year I used butyl tape, so I’m sure it’ll pull easy.
I was also concerned with tightening the nuts underneath on the fiberglass cabin ceiling, so I had the yard fill in any voids in the deck around the hole (there were many) and then I made up a stainless ring with holes for the bolts to act as a giant single washer. (The forward three holes couldn’t be accommodated since they are in front of the bulkhead.) Had to remember to hold the ring in place from below while they lowered the mast.
Feeling pretty secure now.
Brian & Susan Berdan
Blue September 260 #7
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Slightly less drama for me. Both masts had Spartite plugs, and at some point in past they were sliced open (to get them back in, perhaps?). Main mast plug was unsalvageable and had to be re-poured, but the mizzen plug was fine and just got topped off. Plenty of petroleum jelly, as noted above.
I didn’t have any particular problem getting the clay to work, but I didn’t feel there was enough of it in the box, so I ended up using most of the clay from the second box (two masts=two boxes). Getting the clay down onto the foam insert was fun, but I ended up having to tape the foam in to keep from pushing it out the bottom. (Blue painters tape, removed the next day.)
I noted that the deck angle was pretty severe at the front, so not only did the Spartite not come up to the top of the mast collar in the front, but I got a little overrun in the back trying because I wasn’t paying attention. The overrun trimmed up neatly after it cured.
Once the Spartite starts to kick, it does so fast. I nearly didn’t get the remains of the batch into the mizzen (on top of the existing plug) as it was already pouring like cold molasses on a cold winter morning.
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River, MD