Dealing With a Dismasting

© 2008 Douglas Gould

Dismasted sailboats pose some particular risks and challenges for assistance operators.
Even in calm weather, a dismasted sailboat is at significant risk as long as the rigging and
spars remain connected to the vessel. The spars of most modern boats are made of strong
aluminum extrusions, and booms or mast sections become underwater battering rams that
can poke a pretty big hole in a boat. Meanwhile, a confusion of sheets, halyards, shrouds
and torn sails create a real menace to anyone trying to walk around and work on deck.

Dealing with a dismasting requires that you allow your inner risk manager to bubble up
to the front of your consciousness. In some ways, this may be one of the most risk filled
situations you will ever encounter. Extreme care and diligence, with a healthy dose of
caution are required to reach a successful conclusion without injury.

In most cases, you will be faced with the job of detaching the entire rig from the vessel,
and to do that quickly and safely requires a working knowledge of sailboats in general,
and understanding how they are rigged is really important. Being able to identify which
wire or line goes where, and to communicate precisely with others about the all the
components while you are taking it apart makes the job go faster and in a logical
progression.

Many of the industry operators I know are veteran sailors, but for those who are not, find
yourself a primer on sailboat rigging, so you will be conversant in the basics before you
face the tangled mess on the deck of a dismasting. (see
http://www.sailingusa.info/parts_of_the_boat.htm for more information)

Approaching a dismasted sailboat must be done with extreme care. When first arriving on
scene, you must make at least one complete lap around the casualty just to size up the
situation, and to look for the most logical place to come alongside. The casualty is
surrounded with lines and wires, lying just below the surface waiting to snag the unwary
captain and ruin his day.

The majority of rig failures happen when a boat is under sail, which means the sails are
also the water, creating an additional hazard. It has been my experience that the sails are
all usually off to one side or the other of the casualty, making your approach decision
seem obvious - but don't let a pile of sail material make this decision for you. Decide
which side of the casualty will be the safest and most logical based on all the risk factors
presented to you.

Sections of the broken mast or boom may be rocking in the seas, even appearing
completely free or loose from the casualty; they are probably hanging by just one or two
threads of what’s left of the rig. A sudden jerk from a passing wake or swell can propel
those pieces in unpredictable directions, like towards your towboat. If possible, have the
crew on the casualty pull everything in tight when you are ready to come alongside.

Before you go aboard, assemble a tool kit with the following: two sharp knives, vice
grips, two pairs of pliers, two 8” Crescent wrenches, the biggest bolt cutters you have,
one pair of heavy duty diagonal cutters, a couple of large screwdrivers, and a handheld
radio. If you have some wire large wire-rope cutters, you will definitely want those. I like
to put all that into a canvas tool bag, one with a zipper closure. You will probably drop a
tool in the water at some point, so bring spares. A hacksaw may come in handy too.

In a perfect world, you would have enough personnel on scene so you could leave an
operator with the towboat, and rather than tying up alongside, the towboat could standoff
at a safe distance. Of course, if it were a perfect world, the poor sailor wouldn’t have lost
his mast in the first place. If you must tie alongside, mind the underwater hazards.

When you are ready to put personnel aboard the casualty, have a short safety briefing.
Everyone should be wearing a floatation device. No one cuts or disconnects anything
without first informing the salvage master. Busted rigging parts and twisted spars can
have very sharp edges. Beware of open hatches. Avoid stepping inside loops of line or
wire. Be patient and communicate with each other.

Once you are on board, formulate a plan to begin to untangle this mess; but remember
that cutting a line over here can cause two wires over there to unexpectedly fetch up tight.
It’s like waking around in a life size pile of pick-up sticks, and if you are not careful, you
can get hurt or tossed overboard.
Every situation is different, and each dismasting deserves a careful, methodical thought
process to disassemble and secure the pieces. Only do one thing at a time, and confirm
that you have not made matters worse before you begin the next step.

We can separate the mess you will find on the deck into two basic categories – standing
rigging (stuff that holds the mast up), and running rigging (stuff that controls the sails).
Standing rigging is generally 1x19 stainless steel wire, which is relatively stiff and hard
to cut, or it might even be solid rod rigging, which is a real pain in the neck.

Running rigging is predominately cordage, (rope) that is easily cut with a knife. There are
two exceptions; the first being wire halyards, usually a soft, flexible wire rope like 7x19,
and the second being some of the new high-tech ropes. Both of those can be cut with a
small pair of Felco brand wire cutters.

In most cases, your plan will begin with retrieving the sails by removing the mainsail
from the mast and boom, and the jib from the forestay (assuming it was flying before the
dismasting.) If you are lucky, you may be able to simply release (or cut) the halyards and
pull the sails on deck. If you are not that lucky, perhaps you can cut the internal halyards
where they are exposed by a broken section of the mast. Other solutions might include
sending a diver down to the masthead to disconnect or cut the halyards. As a last resort,
just cut all the sail material away in sections. Keep in mind that a large mainsail can be
worth tens of thousands of dollars, so retrieving it undamaged may be worth an extra
effort.

Getting the sails off the spars and secured might include cutting some lines, but sheets,
outhauls, topping lifts and halyards are completely expendable under the circumstances,
so cut them if you need to. Don’t cut any line that is under tension or taught until you are
sure exactly what is putting it under stress.

At some point, you may have to face a decision about what to save and what to jettison to
the deep. There are many factors one might consider, but in general, the quicker the rig is
free and either secured or gone, the less risk there will be. However, the value of some of
the rigging parts, especially rod rigging and roller furling, can be significant. If
circumstances allow, both the owner and the insurance company will appreciate efforts to
save what you can.

There is one common piece of equipment that is most annoying to deal with, and that is
the roller furling system for the jib, which usually is integral to the forestay.

Roller furling allows the jib to be rolled around the forestay using control lines that lead
to the cockpit. Large drums, massive swivels and sections of aluminum-extruded track
are all assembled around the wire forestay, and access to the bottom of the forestay is
usually hindered by the drum and/or twisted pieces of sail track. Disconnecting the
forestay requires removal of a large clevis pin located under the furling drum. (see photo)
If the jib was rolled up in the furled position when
the rig came down, it becomes a giant angry snake
that will frustrate all efforts to tame it. That heavy,
wet sail hanging in the water will be exerting
tremendous forces on the clevis pin under the
drum, and you may need to use a drift and
hammer to get the pin out. (Winch handles make
great hammers, Philips screwdrivers make good
drifts) Have a line secured just above the drum, so
you don’t loose everything overboard. On a
modern 40’ sloop, that jib and furling system
could be worth $10,000 or more.

Once the sails are out of the water, and you have
dealt with the forestay, you can begin sorting out
the broken spar sections and remaining rigging.
Disconnect the boom from the mast at the
gooseneck fitting, and clear any wires that are no longer attached to the mast. If you can
remove the turnbuckles from the chain plates, fine, otherwise, just unscrew the
turnbuckles completely. On smaller boats, you may be able to cut the screws of the
turnbuckle with bolt cutters.

Attempting to cut wire rope with bolt cutters is like trying to teach a pig to sing: its a
waste of your time, and it will only annoy the pig. If you don’t have a large set of wire
cutters, your time is better spent disassembling turnbuckles.

If you collect shrouds and stays still intact, coil them up, and take a few turns with the tail
to hold the coil together, or use some wraps of duct tape. These coils can easily be
secured out of the way some place on deck. Even rod rigging can be coiled, but only in
very large circles, perhaps as much as 6’ in diameter.

Speaking of rod rigging; you have limited choices for cutting that stuff. The best tool is a
hydraulic cutter designed to cut stainless rigging. An electric grinder with a cut-off wheel
will work, or an acetylene torch. Rod rigging is very hard material, and you won't have
much luck cutting it with hand tools.

Most modern sailboats with aluminum spars have a conduit inside to feed electrical wires
for navigation lights and equipment like wind speed indicators and radar. When the mast
falls, all that wiring gets stretched very tight. It may also be the only thing holding the
broken upper sections from going to the bottom, so cut these wires very cautiously.
Before cutting any electric wires, confirm that the breakers are turned off.

Getting a fallen rig secured on deck can be exhausting work, but you should fight the
urge to rush to get the job done. A careful, methodical approach will limit the loss of
tools, equipment, and blood.