First time sailing questions - mast ding and shroud lines

Took my older ('81) hobie 16 for it's first sail (for me) the other day. We had a few issues that I want to see if anyone can give insight to. First we dropped the mast twice. Once when trying to step it and the mast step link gave way - boat was on trailer and mast was about 20 degrees or so up from the tramp. I had a new link so put that in place and got the mast to step. The second time was after we came in from sailing (for a bathroom and food break) and were still in the water. One of the clevis pins came out of the shroud line and the mast crashed and landed on the dock, luckily nobody was hurt but it was the end of sailing for the day. In the case of the shroud line on further inspection it appears the ring-dings on the clevis pin were bent out of shape and worked their way loose. I have since replaced. So to the questions: we have an EZ Step so we decided to try to step the mast in the backyard and work out a better (less dangerous) procedure. It went fine but I noticed that there is a "ding" in the mast about 2 1/2 feet down from the mast tang on the port side. Is this a problem? It doesn't seem too deep and runs vertical but I still have a bit of a concern...how concerned should I be? Secondly, I am unsure how tightly tensioned the shroud lines should be in general and whether having the shroud lines too loose might have led to the unexpected de-masting? Are there any rules of thumb or best practices? Thanks in advance.

My 86 hobie mast has a few dings in it as well, most of them are from me being a newbie in too big of a hurry to get sailing. I would be interested to see what some of the old salts and captains have to say about this. As far as the shrouds are concerened, i have noticed on mine that even when I pull the jib as tight as I can get it on the beach the lee side shroud will still be loose when I am sailing.

Rule number 1 on buying an old(er) boat is to thoroughly inspect all standing and running rigging and replace ANYTHING suspect.

I heard this so many times that when I bought mine three years ago I replaced all running and standing rigging. If a clevis pin or pig tail was worn in any way I replaced it. About the only thing I didn't replace were the shroud anchor pins.

I also drilled out and replaced several rivets even if they weren't loose just because they looked weak. You want to make her as solid as possible.

_________________
'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

The ding, as long as it is not too large, is probably no big deal. The only way to fix it is to replace the mast.

A bit of plastic electrical tape around the pins / rings will keep them in place, not rig tension. The rig should be "moderately" tight. You should be able to easily deflect the shrouds with your hands, but not drum tight, which will make the mast harder to rotate.

Thanks for the replies. My brother-in-law was able to consult with an "old salt" as well and his statements were in line with what you all have suggested. Makes me feel a bit better. I have given everything a thorough review and replaced a few more suspect items but it appears that much of the standing rigging was replaced within the last couple of seasons by the previous owner from what I can tell. One thing I did note is some "cracks" on the hull where the shroud line attach and also on the tips of the hull where the fore-stays attach. Again, I am hoping these are "cosmetic" cracks in the gel coat? Any additional thoughts? Is it typical to see this? Regardless, I will be giving it a test on the Chesapeake Bay this weekend so my fingers are crossed.

Without seeing a photo, it's impossible to really judge the cracks around the shroud / bridle attachments, but they are in all likelihood just cosmetic. Gelcoat is not very flexible and when the deck lip flexes under load, the gel can crack.

Make sure the shroud anchors are screwed in tight to the anchor bars and the bolts on the bridle attachments are too.

my mast has a large ding in it, and i don't think it affects me in any way.