Creaking Mast - Problem?

We plan on having our standing rigging replaced due to it's *age* not it's condition, the condition of the rigging seems fine upon visual inspection, but it is time in the next year or so. We have a deck stepped mast on a Cal 2-30 & the support under the mast is all in good shape. With that said, I notice that I hear creaking in the cabin at the mast base when we are under sail. Is this a sign of anything heinous? If that is somewhat standard no biggie, I just figured I would throw that out there in case the answer was "heck yes address it now rather than a couple months"... I have avoided asking a rigger because I do not know one in the SF Bay area well enough not to be wondering if the answer was not motivated by someone trying to drum up business. Speaking of which, anybody have suggestions on riggers in the SF Bay area? Thanks - Dyer 1969 Cal 2-30, Honu.

On 7/11/2011 2:50 PM, Dylan Crouch wrote: > We plan on having our standing rigging replaced due to it's *age* not > it's condition, the condition of the rigging seems fine upon visual > inspection, but it is time in the next year or so. I did this on my other boat. The standing rigging was about 45 years old and looked good. We are in fresh water and the boat is hauled and stored mast-down for half of each year when the water solidifies. > We have a deck stepped mast on a Cal 2-30 & the support under the mast > is all in good shape. > With that said, I notice that I hear creaking in the cabin at the mast > base when we are under sail. Is this a sign of anything heinous? My Cal 20 makes some noise when I walk around on its flat deck. I figured out that it was the wooden backing plates for the lower shrouds' terminal points (the equivalent of chainplates, except that they are just bolted-on pad eyes, basically). The deck flexes a little and the shroud pulls against it when I walk there and the wood backer flexes a bit and the glue joint is probably cracked. You might want to observe the amount of deflection downward of the mast under press of sail. As it deflects down, the leeward rigging out to go slack. Some of that is normal & acceptable but too much indicates structural problems. Have you inspected the area where the chainplates are bolted to see if there has been any rot from water intrusion? Chris Campbell

Dyer, We have a 1984 Cal 31. Fiberglass is a flexible material, the amount of flex is proportional to its thickness. The thinner, the more flex. It's not a bad thing, even wooden boats throughout the ages have flexed. On my boat, there is lots of finishing trim around the main bulkheads, and when we are healed over, that trim squeaks away as the pull from the chainplates make things move a tiny fraction. The age of the standing rigging doesn't contribute to the noise. Jack --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, Dylan Crouch <dylancrouch@...> wrote: > > We plan on having our standing rigging replaced due to it's *age* not it's > condition, the condition of the rigging seems fine upon visual inspection, but > it is time in the next year or so. > > We have a deck stepped mast on a Cal 2-30 & the support under the mast is all in > good shape. > > With that said, I notice that I hear creaking in the cabin at the mast base when > we are under sail. Is this a sign of anything heinous? If that is somewhat > standard no biggie, I just figured I would throw that out there in case the > answer was "heck yes address it now rather than a couple months"... > > I have avoided asking a rigger because I do not know one in the SF Bay area well > enough not to be wondering if the answer was not motivated by someone trying to > drum up business. > > Speaking of which, anybody have suggestions on riggers in the SF Bay area? > > Thanks - > Dyer > 1969 Cal 2-30, Honu. >

On 7/11/2011 6:45 PM, egiajack wrote: > > The age of the standing rigging doesn't contribute to the noise. > At least not until a shroud breaks and the rig falls down. I've had standing rigging begin to fail on both my Cal 20 and the DN iceboat, and luckily discovered it before coming to grief. The idea of replacing aged standing rigging makes some sense, both because age allows corrosion to work its way, and (as my non-engineering brain recalls) failure is related to number of stress cycles. The rig doesn't come with an hours meter like some engines so we're left to guess. When I replaced the rig on my other boat, I just figured that 45 years' service was a good long run, and there was no reason to tempt fate. I'm frugal but not to a point of obsession. So the noise doesn't come from the rigging, at least from the wire, but the decision to replace the rigging is probably a wise one Chris Campbell > > > --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com <mailto:Cal_Boats%40yahoogroups.com>, > Dylan Crouch <dylancrouch@...> wrote: > > > > We plan on having our standing rigging replaced due to it's *age* > not it's > > condition, the condition of the rigging seems fine upon visual > inspection, but > > it is time in the next year or so. >