Experince with Spartite - Mast Removal/Installation

[geoffschultz]

What experiences have people had with removing their masts with a Spartite ring and the re-installing it? Does the material swell at all?

I'm having an argument with a boat yard who cut off my Spartite ring last year when I was having the mast repainted. There was no reason to cut it off and I wasn't a happy camper. They used a hacksaw blade to cut it, so the cut removed very little material. However, when we went to put it back on, it wouldn't fit into the partners and we ended up having to sand it down to fit.

-- Geoff

[alanrosens]

Srartite is shipped with a jar of petroleum jelly to be used as a release agent around the mast partner. If the job was done correctly, the mast should have popped up without cutting. You can repair the damage by cutting out the remaining spartite just on the outside of the yards cut use petroleum jelly as a release by spreading it on the partner. making a dam under the existing plug and repouring the spartite to fill the void.

[geoffschultz]

The issue wasn't with pulling the mast. It was the fact that the yard cut the Spartite when they repainted it and then I had a huge problem getting it back in.

So, the question remains, has anyone had problems with their Spartite swelling while it's out of the boat and then had problems getting the mast back in?

-- Geoff