Wind didn't seem so strong but brought some short waves that kept the boat moving too much all night.. Not worth to explain the reasons why I didn't take it out the water.. just wanted to share that I figured out the weak point.. one shroud failed just below the cable end ferule (or however it's called). It was a 4mm wire, replaced quite recently. The constant rotation of the mast just cut the strings one by one. I always tie the mast somehow to avoid rotation, but it's not 100% effective, now I figured out how important this was. The stay was on its way too. The hull was damaged but not too bad. The funny part was to recover the mast from underwater.

Underwater? It doesn't float?

I hope everything is Ok with you and your boat.

Hope you are able to get back out sailing asap.
Good luck with the repairs.

Not forever, it happened at night and I found out in the morning.

Well, I suspect if actually floated a short time because the base is not really sealed. I don't trust 100% the rest of the sealing so I figured it would be right to allow the water out in case of a leak. I use a baloon as mast float, but it goes up and down with the sail, so it wasn't there. If the mast had floated it would probably have damaged the hulls a lot more, so I guess it wasn't so bad. The mast was underwater but still attached to the boat, so I didn't have to dive for it.

Thanks for the good wishes

Tell me more about the "Balloon" that goes up and down with the sail.

I've got a Supercat 17 that could sure use the extra floatation at the mast head on that big cross-sectional mast.

Thanks.

WHAT!!! i have had a SC 17 and a 19 and never have had a problem with turtling... SC masts if sealed properly will give enough floatation... the one time i did turtle on a 17 (wind was strong and push on the tramp) the mast went down on one side and slowly popped back up on the other side....

The trick is the handles..
I never take it out the sail, tied it just once. Has worked fine.

Why is your sail at half mast while you're on the water? I'm assuming no suitable beach-type area to hoist, etc. on?

I'm also thinking to put some of these inside the mast, because I don't trust the sealing is 100% effective.

That's what happens when your stuck on a "Reef".

I'm coming back to the shore, which is just below the picture. It's plenty of big stones underwater that limit the path out, so I just lowered the main while approaching to the shore. Wind points straight to the shore and strong enough to call my prudence.. after having demasted anyway...

I understand why you'd want to, but I don't think I would ever be hoisting, any external floats, or even have the one tethered to the top of the mast (Delray Beach?). Kinda like training wheels on a expensive, adult bike.

But I do understand why you do it, and I'm NOT sayhing anything bad about you, your boat, or your sailing skills.

Please don't take offense, it wasn't intended that way.

I understand that are areas, shore conditions, launching landing sites, etc., that are very difficult for even the experienced sailor- which I'm sure you are very experienced.

BTW, what kind of boat is that Pitching it, in your avatar? I always liked your avatar, and thought that it seems as though it has an extra wide beam, like 10-12 ft on the boat in the picture stuffing it.

BTW, how's the tourist situation in Chile? So far, I've never been south of the Cayman Islands, or southern Mexico.

those go inside the mast.

Todd, I'm not taking offense at all, just having a friendly talk.

About the expensive bike thought, I totally agree. Mine is actually a cheap one, that's why the mast may leak and why I don't really care about getting a real mast float . It's a rebuild project, my first catm next step should be to replace it, not worth to invest much more on this one. By now it takes me where I wanna go.

About the avatar, here's the full story, about the pitchpole and how it became my avatar:
http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=76452&page=1
About tourism situation here, you mean how is it affected by economy? I'd say not too bad yet, but I'm not very well informed, it wasn't easy to get a cabin just three days in advance at lake Villarrica, probably it would have been impossible a year ago.
Cheers!

These you mean? Yeah, I was thinking inside

Ding Ding,we got that Delray Promo in there.They are all using surplus plastic garden owls now but only on the HOO-BIE Cats!

Hoooo bie cats, I like that. Plastid garden owl would also keep the seaguls off.

Andinista,

Thanks for that link to the thread, and your avatar.

I was inquiring more in the sense of, maybe it's a place I'd like my family and I to see someday. Not about the economy, which it seems it taking a hit worldwide these days.

Please explain 'free your heels'

Free your heels

Todd, there's tourism for all tastes here, it's hard to describe shortly, to me the most interesting part is in the south, starting at the lakes district, from Temuco to the south. Then way south Torres del Paine is an amazing place, I'm sure there's a lot of it in google. in betwen there's ice fields, forest, mountains and lots of amazing natural and unpopulated landscapes. I don't like the beach as much as the lakes, so I'm probably biased, but despite our long coast, the beaches we have are not what best defines our tourism. Viña del Mar is a crowdy place in summer, with very limited chances to launch a sailboat. But some party and casino stuff that could be interesting. There are marinas in the popular places but more like private clubs, no idea what they might charge for launching if they even allow it. Maybe Algarrobo is an interesting place to sail a boat, that's close to Santiago. My cat is south, I store it at my in laws, in Concepción, there's a small lagoon by the house where I can sail daily or the beach nearby, but mostly I go to the lakes in the South. Pucón is probably the most touristic place at Lake Villarrica. Then of course we have mountains and skiing, Pucón itself is a place where you can do both, not the best skiing compared to Chillán and Santiago, but worth a visit. I general, I would say our tourism is not as developed as it could be and unfortunately it's not easy to find useful info like to book a cabin or hotel. I'd be glad to help if you consider a visit.
Lake Rapel is where most of the cat sailing happen here, it's about 250km from Santiago, nice lake for sailing, but not really a destination you'd fly thousands of miles to, just for sailing. The wine zone is mostly in the center of the country, mainly at Los Andes and Casablanca valleys, north of Santiago, then Maipo, Colchagua, Cachapoal, among other valleys from Santiago to the south. Then if you go way north, you get the deserts, some interesting spots like San Pedro de Atacama and lake Chungara (not for sailing but rather see flamingos and very high volcanoes.

Well, that was a rough and disorganized and limited description of our tourism. Worth a visit anyway.

Saludos!