Asking for advice from the members. I ran out of time to sail my boat back from Brisbane and am now back at work . The boat will now be trucked home ( various reasons , maritime letters , cost of leaving her up north , ease of working on her ,etc )
The masts will be out for I assume the first time in 30 years . Chain plates will be done .
Do I paint the masts ,and if so with what ,or refurbish all the bits and leave it bare , not much anodising left on them .
Thanks in advance . Oh and yes it does cost more than she is probably worth.

She is still pretty to me .
Hi OBR,
Leave it bare I reckon. I don't mind the look and it's practical.
I hate cruddy paint on masts, so I could be biased.
Stripped mine back bare, bought some Nyalic to coat it but ended up painting it with 2 pk paint and I'm sure glad I did,,, it looks magnificent.
I was worried that the bare aluminum (non anodized) will constantly be shedding an oxidized layer that will leave a grey stain on the white sails.
Put my 2pk on nice and thick so I have many years of service from the paint
Hi OBR
Leave it bare, rub it back with increasingly fine wet and dry to the finish of your choice, finish it off with WD40 as the lubricant for the wet and dry, put it back in the boat and forget about it.
Cheers
Have you considered getting it delivered back to NSW?, if you was going to take it home to a paddock at home of course not much of a price difference anyway probably.
Thanks for the opinions , I suppose time will decide for me in the end . It's good to see that I can clean it up and just leave it and it will be ok.
I thought about getting the boat delivered , she is sea worthy , but the masts really should come out and if it was delivered I'm sure I can make lots of excuses not to pull them. Was going to drop them 4 years ago ,but ended up just inspecting and replacing the rigging . Crevice corrosion on any thing important always has me concerned , no excuses now for chain plates either.
Pull them out.
Masts should really come out every re-rig as you'd be amazed what you find after a few years.
I'd leave it bare as no matter how good the paint job you'll end up with bubbling and chalky paint after a few years.
Nylac is great but expensive
Thanks for the opinions , I suppose time will decide for me in the end . It's good to see that I can clean it up and just leave it and it will be ok.
I thought about getting the boat delivered , she is sea worthy , but the masts really should come out and if it was delivered I'm sure I can make lots of excuses not to pull them. Was going to drop them 4 years ago ,but ended up just inspecting and replacing the rigging . Crevice corrosion on any thing important always has me concerned , no excuses now for chain plates either.
Hey, an american couple from another forum, reported that they used a product, Tectyl, I think was the name, when they replaced their mast after a dismasting off brisbane years ago. Reportedly good result and not particularly expensive.
I also used Nyalic on mast 5 years ago
still looking good,like anodised
easy to apply too
worth checking out
Pull them out.
Masts should really come out every re-rig as you'd be amazed what you find after a few years.
I'd leave it bare as no matter how good the paint job you'll end up with bubbling and chalky paint after a few years.
Nylac is great but expensive
It has been 3 years since it was painted, still no chalky paint and being a polyurethane it will cut and polish, no blistering yet as well. The paint I removed was the original, probably 35 years old. I actually can't recall the old paint being that chalky, it just looked untidy mostly where it had blistered away .
Pull them out.
Masts should really come out every re-rig as you'd be amazed what you find after a few years.
I'd leave it bare as no matter how good the paint job you'll end up with bubbling and chalky paint after a few years.
Nylac is great but expensive
It has been 3 years since it was painted, still no chalky paint and being a polyurethane it will cut and polish, no blistering yet as well. The paint I removed was the original, probably 35 years old. I actually can't recall the old paint being that chalky, it just looked untidy mostly where it had blistered away .
Go up the mast in a pair of black trousers, then you'll know it was chalky!!
I call it riggers legs!!