ebuilding the Mast
George and Linda Meier stood on the dock, arms folded, looking up at the mast of their 40 foot cutter, SV Tuahine. They were considering what would be involved in replacing the original galvanized rigging and wood spreaders. Since 1972 when they purchased Tuahine, a beautiful 40 foot double-ender of Bill Garden design, the couple have lovingly maintained her, making good use of George’s fine finishing carpenter skills and shipbuilder skills he has acquired along the way. But this mast project would be a big one – the mast is 57 feet and constructed of Sitka spruce. The mast is stepped to the keel so about 7 feet is below deck.
George and Linda discussed the logistics involved in unshipping the mast. When asked how much the mast weighed – George pondered for a moment, laughed and said, ‘I don’t know exactly, but it is freaking heavy.’ And with that guesstimate, the project began.
Unshipping the Mast
Once the crew arrived they motored over to the mast tower and spent some time aligning the boat to facilitate the mast removal. The first step was to tie a strop around the mast; the strop needs to be attached so that there is more mast below it than above it to avoid the mast kicking out when it is lifted. George used some used large-diameter rope and old bath towels to minimize damaging or scarring the mast and then wrapped it around the mast, tying the ends together using a bowline knot.
The Vancouver Rowing Club mast tower has a drum that is hand cranked and has wire and a weighted hook. The weights were wrapped with a piece of carpet and duct tape to protect the mast from being dented. With the strop in place the crew tied a couple of preventer lines around the base of the mast to control it during the lift out and the slack on the crane wire was taken up. George lifted out the mast wedges at the deck and made sure the mast was free to be removed. The rigging was then completely undone. A member of the crew started cranking up the mast to a point where the mast was not quite out of the deck. The loose rigging was then duct-taped to the mast to prevent it from swinging around while being lifted out. The crew took positions at the control lines and crane and then worked the crane until the mast was lifted up, clear of the boat and then swung round to the dock where it was laid on five saw horses. The spreaders were taken off on the dock as they would not fit in the mast room. The mast was then moved into the mast room – this was a major job for the crew.
Mast Repairs
Once the mast was in the mast room the real work began. Most of the mast hardware was removed including the winches and the mast sheave. George and Linda then used a heat gun to scrape it down to bare wood and then examined it inch-by-inch looking for any signs of rot. They found a few punky places where the wood was discoloured and slightly soft. Fortunately the rot was not significant enough to affect the structural integrity of the mast. George cut the rot out using a router and chisels and then graved in replacement pieces. He made the replacement pieces so that they fit as tightly as possible and then used Titebond III waterproof glue and clamped them in place. In all, seven graving pieces had to be made. The mast was then sanded, faired and made ready for paint.
Once the repairs were complete, George and Linda painted the mast. They added Penetrol to the primary coat, increasing the levelling and penetration properties of the paint and as a result improved adhesion to the wood. From years of experience with various marine paints on Tuahine, they chose General Paint Marine enamel tinted to “Schooner Buff” for a more traditional colour used back in the day. Including the primer coat, a total of five coats of paint was applied to the mast.
Rebuilding the Spreaders
Although only one of the four spreaders had significant rot, George decided to build four new spreaders given the work involved in lifting out the mast and replacing the one with rot. George’s put his carpentry skills to work to build new spreaders. He chose Honduras mahogany because it is nice to work with. The wood shapes easily, takes a finish well, is light and strong and somewhat rot resistant. Using hand planes and spokeshave to do the shaping, George created the four new spreaders. When they were complete he and Linda sanded and then painted with the General Marine paint used for the mast.
Re-rigging the Mast
George and Linda sourced the stainless wire for the new rigging from West Marine. After some research they decided to make the standing rigging themselves using Norsemen terminals for the first time. The Norseman terminal is designed to clamp on to the wire rope in such a way that repairs can be done at sea without special equipment and the internal cone system can cope with heavy loads. (see sidebar for more details). George installed the mast hardware.
Stepping the Mast
The procedure George and Linda followed for stepping the mast was pretty much the procedure for unstepping it in reverse. George got his crew back together and motored over to the Rowing Club on the agreed upon date. The crew carried the mast out of the mast tower and onto the horses. George attached the spreaders and then the rig hardware and all the new stays and shrouds. The crew attached the strop and preventer lines and then George hooked the crane line to the strop. An extra cloth was placed around the strop to prevent marking the paint which was still curing. The mast was ratcheted up and then guided by the crew (using the preventer lines) into place. While half the crew held the mast in place, the remainder attached the rigging to the deck hardware. To ensure the mast was straight, George measured the difference from the eye of the chain plate to the lower shroud eye on the port side and then made sure the distance was the same on the starboard side. The mast is held in position in the deck openig using mast 'chocks' which are tapered wedges made of wood.
Making the Mast Boot
To keep water from leaking into the boat from around the mast at the deck, George and Linda use a mast boot for a flexible seal. They decided to replace their existing collar as part of the project. Using a weather proof material called “Sunbrella” , Linda cut a pattern that creates a cone shaped cover making sure there is plenty of material for the overlap. Once the cone was in place around the base of the mast, George used a hose clamp to hold the top end in place on the mast. At this point the boot is upside down and inside out. The base of the boot was then folded down over the hose clamp and the base then secured to a deck collar. Before installing the boot, Velcro was sewn on and used as the method for closing the cone along the overlap.
Raising the Sail (and a glass)
George and crew motored back to the dock for well-deserved beers and for the final task – 'bending' on the mainsail. Of course the new rig will have to be 'tuned' to get the best sailing performance for the boat. The new rig, spreaders and repaired mast should last for years and provide George and Linda with many more summers of sailing on Tuahine.
Sidebar Information
Project Materials List
Duct tape to tape carpet protector pieces to crank weights and to attach loose rigging to mast
Wire rope of various sizes
Waterproof glue
Marine enamel manufactured by General Paint
Norseman terminals
Wood for graving in (what did you use)
Wood for replacement spreaders (Honduras Mahogany)
Mast collar: type of material and hose clamp
Norseman Terminals
Tools
Spokeshave
Hand Planes
Router
Chisels and mallet
Saw (to make graved in pieces)