Mast overhaul

[Jeff and Sarah]

Well I'm finally home from deployment and it's time to install my Harken roller furler. I pulled the mast last Tuesday and the project has escalated quickly. I figured while the mast was down I might as well paint it so I stripped it down to just a long aluminum stick. Every little piece has been removed and catalogued. I took the mast down to bare aluminum and etched and primed it. I have another coat of primer to go before the top coat but it was just too hot today to bother trying to paint it (it was also hot the day I stripped the paint- so hot that the chemical boiled the instant it touched the mast). I'm also switching to internal halyards and will go from 2 halyards to 4. I'm having a new forestay made and I had a rigger look at the rest of my rigging today for a quote for replacement though he surprisingly said it was I great condition and not worth replacing. He's trying to convince me to install spreader lights while I have everything apart- it seems like an ok idea. Does anyone have any ideas for improvements while I have the mast apart? It is so easy to mess with right that I'm open to all suggestions! Photos to follow...

[Maine_Buzzard]

How about a new VHF cable, and LED tricolor light? That will eat up $300, if you want crazy, go with LED steaming/ deck lights new cables+ through deck clamshells for an easier hoisting.

[Paul D.]

J&S,

I pulled our mast years back to install a Harken furler and I replaced some wires and lights, spreader boots etc. The main thing I did was prevent the electric wires from rattling around. Hardest bit was pulling the old wires out. They were attached to sail slugs on an interior track. Probably should have replaced the wires but they were in good shape.

A Good Old Boat article suggested tying plastic wire ties around the wires. I laid out the group of wires and did this (Anchor, steaming and deck lights, wind sensor and VHF antenna) with the wire tie tails sticking out at 120 degrees every 15 inches of wire or so. This really, really worked and the mast makes no noise at anchor. The first season was painful with them banging around but now the silence is bliss. I imagine this would work with internal halyards but I prefer mine external and left them that way.

It was also a good time to check the lights and all the fittings which I am sure you are as you remove them.

I think considering how to keep things from banging around will give you peace down the road. Good luck.

[Jeff and Sarah]

Good suggestions. I rewired the mast lights and VHF 2 years ago and used the zip tie method you mentioned. It's worked well for me too. The LED suggestion is good but the truth is I don't run much at night (we are on a river and most trips can be done in the day). I'm leaning away from the spreader lights for the same reason. I just don't want to get the mast back up and have an epiphany of some little thing I wish I had done.

[Ron M.]

Did the whole thing a few years back, etched, primed , painted. Replaced wiring/cables and fixtures. I was able to slide lengths of foam pipe insulation
around the wires and most of the way up the mast to keep internal slap at a minimum.......it's worked out well.

[Jeff and Sarah]

Today I finished up sanding the last coat of primer- I tried to get pretty close to perfect up to the spreaders then satisfactory above that. I also made the cut-outs for the halyard exit plates. Cutting 4 relatively large slots in the mast was a little stressful at first but I spent some time planning it out and worked out a consistently reliable method of marking the cuts and holes so once I took to the drill and jig saw it went pretty smoothly. If I were to ever do this project again, I would have made these cut-outs before I stripped the mast of all hardware because it would be easier to imagine how it all lays out together and there would be no primer or paint to worry about. I also wouldn't choose to do this project in the biggest heat wave in a decade. Despite sunscreen I am now several shades darker than when I started this whole thing.

Tomorrow I should be laying down the first coat of Interlux Perfection. I still need to start working on the boom and there are a few smaller parts that need to be prepped for paint (spreaders, mast head, winch pads, boom ends, etc). The new forestay should be delivered on Thursday behind schedule but I hope to be done with painting in time to switch modes to building the new furler.

[Paul D.]

Jeff,

What furler did you choose? If you haven't yet, I strongly recommend the Harken MkIV Unit 1 for our boats. I put on a MkIII Unit 1.5 (I should have just used a Unit 1) ten years ago and it has never let me down, even in 45+ knots of wind. We fly a 135% genny that is old and rather heavy. I would get this thing again in a heartbeat only I would set the furler a bit higher to be more out of the way of the anchor. Still, it is not in the way and works very well.

Good luck, someday I will be pulling my mast and repainting. Happy fourth.

[Jeff and Sarah]

Paul,
We are going with a Harken Cruising Furler. I had narrowed it down to either the cruising furler or the Mark IV. I did get the extension to raise the drum over the anchor. I'm getting anxious to have everything back together again!

[Ron M.]

it will be a huge benefit to get the long link plates that get the furler up off the deck. I use a Profurl and have been pleased with it. Much easier access to deploy and retrieve the anchor.

[Jeff and Sarah]

I got the final top coat on yesterday. Just as I was leaving I noticed not only did I miss a small spot just above the spreaders (about the size of a credit card), there was a sag just above it. Well that is incredibly annoying. Anyway I drove home (about 1.5 hours) frusterated. This morning I figured I'd go wet sand it and at least get rid of the sag (yes, I obsess over these things). When I got to the yard I was incredibly happy with how the top coat dried. It isn't perfect but considering I did it outside under an overpass next to train tracks in the beating sun, it could not have come out better. I'd give it an 8 out of 10 with 10 being as good as I could do in a paint shop (that's me- not a professional doing the work). I didn't think any touch up sanding would bring it to a 9 so I left it as is.

I started working on the boom today at my house. All went well up until the last bolt. It was frozen and there was no hope. Eventually the head broke off so I lined the boom up with my drill press to drill it out and of course the bit walked a bit and I only drilled half the bolt (the bolt is the bottom of 3 securing the gooseneck end of the boom). At this point I realized there is really no advantage to pulling that end of the boom so I'll leave it in place and will tap the new hole for a new bolt. In the end it won't make a bit of difference.

For those interested, so far the total cost of this project has been just shy of one billion dollars. I'll try to get some photos up..

[Jeff and Sarah]

Before:



During:



After:

[Ron M.]

Looks good........I know it's a lot of work but the results are worth it.
I clamped 2X4 extentions to sawhorses at each end and inserted the mast, kind of a long lathe. By sticking a big screwdriver thru a hole for the staysail hardware I could rotate the mast easily for spraying.
Perfection was very user friendly. It may not cure as hard as awlgrip but is much easier to work with and repair.
When it came time to remount the hardware I stuck electricians tape to the back of each fitting and used a dab of caulk for the screws. Hopefully it will lessen the reaction of dissimilar metals. That was 5 years ago.......so far so good.

[Jeff and Sarah]

Well I finally got a second coat on the boom and if you ask me, it looks kind of bad. The first coat was as near perfect as I've gotten but the second coat- not so much. That was Sunday morning and I was kicking myself for not doing a very good job all day. Then at about 5:45pm, I told Sarah "call 911, the house is on fire". Walt (our 9 month old son), Sarah, and I are all safe and were able to rent the house next door while our home is repaired. It's been a crazy couple days and we thankfully didn't lose a single thing. The fire was caused by electrical wiring in the attic and most of the damage was actually caused by putting it out (which was absolutely fine with me). Needless to say, the imperfect coat of interlux is here to stay. If anyone ever asks about the sag about mid boom, I'll respond "I was going to fix that, then my house caught fire."

[Steve Laume]

Holly crap! Talk about not sweating the small stuff. Glad to hear the house fire caused minimal damage and no one was hurt.

You are doing a great job on the mast and any slight imperfections will only be noticed by you. A year from now you will not care.

One thing you might consider adding to the mast is a set of fold down steps near the mast head. I installed these on Raven and they are very helpful if you ever need to do any work at the mast head. Once you get to the top, it is easy to fold them down and step onto them. Once there, a short strap around the mast makes it very comfortable to stand at the top and do whatever you have to do.

I hope the house fire doesn't create enough of a distraction that it stops work on the boat, Steve.

[hilbert]

Jeff, I blame it on the trees.

I've been working through a large number of projects, since I got my boat in the Fall of 2009. These were interrupted last year, when a neighbor's oak tree fell on our house. We were in an apartment for 5 months during reconstruction. To protect our new roof, I had all the trees trimmed on our property. Despite our best efforts, we had more tree damage during this years derecho. While it has all been very disruptive, no one was hurt and I have continued to plod along with my boat projects, as best I can. The best advise that I can offer is to chose your contractor carefully.

Steve, what/where did you purchase your folding steps?