More Mast issues

Checked the boat today and did a few odds and ends, maintenance why's. Not sailing this weekend due to all the fishing activity. The tuna are biting and it seems like every fishing boat and trailer is down here!
 I noticed that the mast is continuing to twist. This is obviously a manufacturers defect.

Here is a photo of the twist today, 8/10/14.

 The mast was previously fixed, (as noted in a previous blog entry), by reshaping the bottom of the mast to take out the twist. Nice job on this done by a local shipwright, Scott Cain.


July 13th after he had fixed and continuing to twist.

Here are a couple of pics of the mast during and after he fixed it.

After he fixed.

This shows the alignment    











Here is the email I sent to Bill today after our phone call explaining the issue.

 Hi Bill,
             Nice chatting with you today. Sorry I need to bring this up again. But, the mast continues to twist. It is obviously a manufacturing defect either with the wood, or, the way it was assembled.  Matt has been good in helping to correct this and it is embarrassing for me to have to ask, again, for help in correcting this. My preference, as in the past conversations, is to have a wooden mast. I just like the salty look it gives the boat. But, if you feel that this can not be corrected, what is the difference in cost between the wooden and carbon mast. I know if I had purchased the carbon mast with my boat the cost would have been different and am not looking for you or Matt to absorb this cost. I am just not sure if I can afford the carbon mast.

I noticed that the mast is continuing to twist.


Here is a photo of the twist today, 8/10/14.

 The mast was previously fixed, by reshaping the bottom of the mast to take out the twist. Nice job on this done by a local shipwright, Scott Cain.




Here are a couple of pics of the mast, during and after Scott completed his work.

After he fixed.

This shows the alignment   

Regards,

David Peachey.

                                         **************************************************

Well, some great customer service from Matt. I received an email from him today suggesting some solutions.  Here is a copy of my reply and Matt's email.

Hi Matt,
                 Thank you for your prompt reply. Your help with this situation has been excellent. I was a little embarrassed to bring this up again due to your previous help and I was hopeful that the situation had been corrected with the previous work done by Scott Cain.
                                               I can delay any action for a while. I actually spoke to Bill about putting any replacement mast with the next shipment to the U.S. A. to help avoid any additional shipping charges from the U.K. So, using the boat for the next six months and checking the twist is not an issue. I did check the wooden masts of other boats on the forum and none of the other masts have an issue. So, my thought is that I just happened to be unlucky with this wooden mast. I would prefer the wooden mast. I know it is vain, but I do like the look of the wooden mast. The carbon mast is an option if you feel that we need to go that route. (Six months will also allow me time to save the funds for this also).
    If we could discuss again prior to any shipments to the U.S. A., so we can piggy back on the transportation, we can make a decision at that time.

Thanks again for your help with this,

David Peachey

---

From: matt@swallowboats.com
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 10:31:14 +0100
Subject: Mast twist
To: ca2nj@hotmail.com; bill@eysales.net

David,

I got the email from Bill this morning. Really sorry to hear that this is still an issue.

I had hoped that all the twist that was going to happen, had already happened, and that therefore it woudl be stable once corrected.

A carbon mast is an extra £395, but the other huge problem is shipping it to you, if that is a route you want to go down. If you could wait, we coudl potentially ship it with another order to the USA. Bill is retiring but he might be able to arrange overland shipping to you. We are trying to find a dealer over on your coast who would help but there is no saying how long this might take.

I have to agree with you about the salty look of a wooden mast.

Is there any way that would consider using the boat for at least another 6 months or so, perhaps regularly assessing the twist to see if it "slows down" or hopefully stops?

From memory it looks like the current twist is less than it was, but that is your call. If it does slow down, or stop, then it might be worth another correction by Cain? What do you think.

I am happy to be led by you on this one, if you have suggestions or ideas I woudl be very happy to hear them.

Best wishes,
Matt