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PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2018 7:05 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 1:38 pm
Posts: 420
I fashioned a mast slider from 7/8 inch ptfe rod to reduce friction between the sail mast and receiver base on my Oasis when furling and unfurling the sail. I also added some strategically placed holes and notches in the slider to trap grit and such.

Image

When I went to clean the mast receiver to insert the slider I noticed this.

Image

It looked like a protrusion upward at first which would render my slider making a waste of time. But experimentation with various probes revealed this to be a channel groove below the base, not sure its purpose. But all good, and a place for the grit to end up once trapped!
And here is the final result. I also use teflon dry lube on the mast to reduce friction on the sides.

Image

Peter


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PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2018 7:28 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:46 pm
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Location: Escondido
Looks like it has good potential -- thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to your performance review! 8)


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 5:41 am 
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Was on the water Saturday with 7-10 mph winds running coastal river switchbacks with the tide. Ten miles down, 10 miles up. The straights between the turns had the wind either dead ahead or dead astern on each leg so I furled or unfurled on every turn. The combination of the Teflon slider in the mast receiver, Teflon lube on the mast, and pulleys at the turns and the far end of the furling line worked great for low effort quick furling and unfurling. The only place I had some binding was between the mast furling assembly and the piece that holds the mast hold-down cord and clip to attach to the kayak hull. I didn't take a look yet to see why that was binding but suspect I need some Teflon lube there too. Never had that bind before but also suspect I never turned the mast this fast before.

Peter


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 6:53 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
We used to kayak sail a lot, (kind of our favorite thing to do with kayaks). Actually we bought the sailing kit with every single mirage kayak we ever owned, and have never taken a Hobie out without a sail kit strapped to the side of the boat, (not even once), lol just in case we find wind.
We also had furlers on all our sails, (this was all way before hobie came out with their own furler kit, so all ours were all PVC furlers).

Were talking thousands of miles of kayak sailing here, (most every weekend (all year round) for many years), mostly in the keys.

The one recurring issue that we always had on all our sail kits, was the masts would get bent near the bottom (from sailing load) and we continually had to straighten the aluminum masts, (just above where the mast exits the boat). You can safely straighten the mast a few times (on the work bench), but over time the aluminum gets weaker, and the mast has to be replaced.
What we found to work well was to insert a fiberglass pultrusion into the middle of the mast down near the bottom, (about 2 ft long).
In order to do that you need to drill out the cross pins that hold the bungy in place and remove the bungy that runs the length of the mast, (inside).
Of course there is a mast split at the center, once you remove the bungy, the mast can come apart. We simply taped the mast together at the joint, (we did exactly the same with our TI mast, (ie... taped the joint). We never broke the mast down anyway, we just furled the sail around the mast and hauled it around that way, (full length).
We used the daylights out of the sailing kits, on some of the masts, once they got too beat up, we replaced the entire masts with 7/8" dia fiberglass pultrusions, (you need to get the stronger pultrusions, (not the weaker ones, you need like 60% to 70% glass, (we found them online somewhere)). There are many different strengths available, you will need to experiment. One pointer about the fiberglass pultrusions is if you rub them, you can get glass in your hands. We always painted ours with a fairly heavy coat of paint, or wrapped the exposed areas, with black electrical tape, (kind of like you would wrap 10 speed bike handlebars).
We also placed washers under the bottom of the mast, (similar to yours). On a few masts I also epoxied a blob of epoxy, (or bondo) onto the end of the mast at the bottom, and rounded the bottom of the mast to a ball. It's spins way easier on the ball shape.
On a few of the masts we also found some 2 inch wide PTFE adhesive tape, and wrapped the base of the mast with that, ( I have have no idea where I got it from though, (I work in manufacturing, and just brought a roll home from work, we used the stuff for automation slides, (lol, it was probably uber expensive).

Obviously we were a little nuts about kayak sailing, (overkill). Lol here is a pic of our old Oasis from 2008
Image

This was one of our Revolutions, (we had several of these).
Image

This was one of our old Tandem Islands all rigged for kayak sailing
Image


Yea we were a little over zealous about kayak sailing I guess, but boy did we have a lot of fun.

Hopefully some of our pointers will help you.
Have fun

FE


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 7:48 am 
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Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:55 pm
Posts: 82
Location: Cedar Key, FL
The furler on the Star Sail operates really smoothly. The mast pocket on the sail is large enough to accommodate a PVC pipe that acts as a sleeve over the aluminum mast. The PVC pipe is snug in the sail's mast pocket and easily spins around the mast. As a result, the mast does not move in the receiver when furling or unfurling.

The downside to the Star setup is that the mast and PVC sleeve are not designed to be taken apart between uses, so storage is a bit more challenging. At least Star gives you a full length storage bag to accommodate this.

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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 9:39 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 1:38 pm
Posts: 420
FE - I have been in these forums since 2006 so am well aware of your trials and tribulations! Ha ha. Many of your ideas and solutions have helped me or at least given me ideas. But honestly, as far as this Oasis goes, if I feel the need for any further modification like Starr sails, a jib, or any of the many things you tried, I will likely just move to a TI instead.

Peter


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:06 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
We just like to have fun that’s all.
Hey I went to the Star Sails website, if I ever get back into kayak sailing, it will be with a Star sail.
Really cool
FE


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:19 am 
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Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:55 pm
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Location: Cedar Key, FL
fusioneng wrote:
We just like to have fun that’s all.
Hey I went to the Star Sails website, if I ever get back into kayak sailing, it will be with a Star sail.
Really cool
FE


If you ever feel like road tripping up to Cedar Key, just let me know and I'll let you try mine out (including my rocket launcher mod).

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 7:47 pm 
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Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:51 pm
Posts: 15
fusioneng wrote:
The one recurring issue that we always had on all our sail kits, was the masts would get bent near the bottom (from sailing load) and we continually had to straighten the aluminum masts, (just above where the mast exits the boat). You can safely straighten the mast a few times (on the work bench), but over time the aluminum gets weaker, and the mast has to be replaced.
What we found to work well was to insert a fiberglass pultrusion into the middle of the mast down near the bottom, (about 2 ft long).
In order to do that you need to drill out the cross pins that hold the bungy in place and remove the bungy that runs the length of the mast, (inside).
....
We used the daylights out of the sailing kits, on some of the masts, once they got too beat up, we replaced the entire masts with 7/8" dia fiberglass pultrusions, (you need to get the stronger pultrusions, (not the weaker ones, you need like 60% to 70% glass, (we found them online somewhere)). There are many different strengths available, you will need to experiment. One pointer about the fiberglass pultrusions is if you rub them, you can get glass in your hands. We always painted ours with a fairly heavy coat of paint, or wrapped the exposed areas, with black electrical tape, (kind of like you would wrap 10 speed bike handlebars).
We also placed washers under the bottom of the mast, (similar to yours). On a few masts I also epoxied a blob of epoxy, (or bondo) onto the end of the mast at the bottom, and rounded the bottom of the mast to a ball. It's spins way easier on the ball shape.

FE


Hey Fusioneng,
I am just getting into Hobies and starting out like you: have an Oasis and a Rev 13 that I am rigging for the Hobie sail. Regarding the fiberglass pultrusion; are those solid or a tube? I see solid pultrusion for fairly cheap.

Thanks,
PeteC (Hampton, VA and Lake Wales, FL)


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:11 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Yes we used solid fiberglass pultrusions. Just measure the ID of the mast and slide one in up from the bottom. You will be abandoning the bungy cord, that is already in there, ( no big deal).
Nearly ever sail we ever owned, once installed, we never split the mast in half again. We just furled the sail up on the mast and strapped it to the side of every kayak we ever owned. Actually we never went out in any kayak without a sail furled and strapped to the side of the kayak.
We went thru quite a few masts, before figuring this stuff out.
Good luck
FE


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