Water in My Mast

i capsized and took on quite a bit of water in my mast. It probably goes a good 3 or 4 feet up the mast. And it is Salt Water!!
It is still in there as i have been very busy with christmas and work and have not had a chance to do anything about it.

How should i go about getting the water out. And how long until this salt water will start to corrode the inside of my mast. It has been in there a good week or 2!! I was thinking of drilling 2 small holes in the bottom of the luff track and letting it drain out. tomorow!

What can i do to seal up my mast from taking on more water. When i capsized i could not get the boat back up. I think it had to do with the water in the mast. The extra weight in the top of the mast when capsized was preventing us to get enough leverage to right the boat. We had to help us get a boat to help us right the boat.

We were in the ocean in 2 - 3 foot swells and could not get the boat back up. I do not want to be in that situation again. It was not fun.... at all

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1971 H16 (sail #1768)

To all of you on the Hobie Forum... I love you guys!!!
thanks for all the help!

If it were my mast I'd drill out the rivets holding the mast base to the mast and remove the base casting & internal plate and foam plug. Doing this isn't very easy and you may need someone to help. Next I'd drill out all the rest of the rivets in the mast (maybe except for the mast head) and flush out the saltwater. After flushing, use a shopvac with some long PVC pipes to suck as much of the water out as you can, followed with a "SHAMWOW" (taped to a pole) or similar towel to dry the inside even more, followed by hot air to evaporate any residual moisture. Once you're confident it's dry inside re-rivet all the parts back onto the mast using sealing caps for every rivet. While you're at it try to replace the vinyl tape beneath the stainless pieces to avoid electrolysis. You should be able to get all the rivets you need from your local dealer or give Jeremy a call at Surf City Catamarans in Santa Cruz. Good luck.

Any Less Complicated Solutions??

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1971 H16 (sail #1768)

To all of you on the Hobie Forum... I love you guys!!!
thanks for all the help!

Okay...plan "B" would be to remove the mast base and flood the mast (needs to be on an angle for this & it's gonna get heavy) with fresh water. Watch for the leaks to show you where it entered when you were capsized. The main thing is to get the salt out of there or you'll have headaches later on.

The really big issue is how did the water get in. use a pool and sink mast the air bubbles should tell you where it is leaking It is probably around the mast tang when you find the rivet that leaks drill it out flush with fresh water and replace with a HOBIE rivet. I would not worry about a few ounces of fresh water left in the mast This is a hobie it will not hurt anything. The mast seal should be tested at the first of each sailing season A bad time to find a mast leak is upside down about 5 miles offshore.
Gary
Hobie Cat 21 SE Stars and Stripes USA 415
Hobie 14 turbo
Hobie Cat 16 former owner and i really miss the 16

The mast is off of a 1971?

You may not have a small leak but a hole in the mast at the mast tang. That's the stainless part where all the wires attach to the mast. Old mast tangs have one hole to attach all the wires. This causes a lot of load in one place without enough support over a long period of time. The tang would bend and punch a hole in the mast under the tang.

Before you do anything, check here. If you have a one hole tang, replace it with the new one with three holes. This is a job for a dealer. Ron Lane is San Diego is the closest. Call Fast Lane Sailing in San Diego.

This is a simple job, but you need a really good rivet gun to pull this many stainless rivets. You should also install the comptip at this time.

When the mast is cut, you can rinse and dry it all day long!