Number 24 - mast rebuild.

[Hans Petrie]

Mast rebuild.  It is time, alas, to do the masts.  They are splitting apart at the seams.  To fiberglass, or not to fiberglass, that is the question.  I hadn't been on the site for too long and realized I never posted regarding the outcome of my last endeavor at the boat yard.  Hull painted and a bit of rot in the toerail fixed.  Ran out of time and didn't do the sticks or bowsprit.  Now it is a year later and they are coming unglued at the seams.  No chance of sailing.  I blame it all on the fresh water winter I spent in Sacramento which was a bit wet and cold for the old girl.  In February, when the river was low I busted her out to Half Moon Bay (Pillar Point Harbor actually).  Now I have totally stripped out and rebuilt the interior but masts are in order.  I have reached critical masts.  Back to Napa or Berkeley to finish the jobs.

I'm wondering.  Does fiberglassing them suck?  Perhaps I should just reglue them.  I have had heard that fiberglass over them promotes moisture and early failure.

[bob mitchell]

WOW, I was wondering what had become of your project - was getting ready to call. Sounds like you are doing it right, with the scarfs.

        The cockpit floor raising kind of has to be viewed in the perspective of the new helmstation. The quadrant and its wheel are history. The new wheel is where the large pilot house window used to be. And yes, 14" higher will definitely take care of the drainage problem. Maybe check out my last photo and yoou can kind of see the hard top dodger that covers the new helmstation.

[Hans Petrie]

OK - so here is the scoop on the mast rebuild.

Day 1 - everything pulled down - main, mizzen, bowsprit are now on the hard.  Living aboard the boat in the Napa marina while I work.

 

Day 2 - remove all hardware - everything comes off.  Label all of it so I know what goes where.  Put it all in a bucket so I don't lose anything.  Coil all the wire rigging and label it well.

 

Rest of Week 1 - Pop off the main mast front.  Popped off really easy.  It was bigging to split off.  Looks like the glue join was failing.  The rest of the mast was in good shape except for biggings of rot in the masthead.  Treated with Smiths penetrating epoxy.  It soaked up a lot.  But it was mostly in tact.  Pull the back board off the mizzen.  Rotten at the bottom.

 

Week 2.  Scarf in four sides of mizzen.  Eight foot section of mast using 10 foot boards.  Create 13-1 scarf joints.  Glue them up on 3 sides to the masthead.  Flip over and glue in last board.  Run new wires in main and run extra wires tri-color light and anchor light as well as spreader lights and masthead light. 

 

Week 3 - Masts are all glued back together.  Begin sanding and filling.  Used West Systems with 404 high density (coloidal silica).  Wow it is strong.  Mast still bends nicely.  Everything is going well.  Roundovers on the mizzen replacement section are difficult to put in.  Don't have a 1" roundover bit and my router only supports 1/4" shanks.  Decided to do it by hand with a planer and a sanding block jigged out to the 1" round.  Use 45 grit sandpaper and get and aroebic work out.  Look pretty good though.  Getting there.

 

Week 4 - Prepping for primer.  Naval jelly on rusted hardware on bowsprit.  Painting with Rustoleum on the metal.    A bit more sanding.  Was going to paint today but it is so hot right now I'm sweating, having a cold one, and taking a breather and writing this post.

[Hans Petrie]

Wow.  Really great feedback.  I hope I can give back to the site with some pictures and posts for this project.  Best!

 

I'm leaning toward just rebuilding and repainting them without waterproofing.  My mizzen repair did last over eight years but now I can see that things are coming apart.  A combination of moisture and vibration I think has done them in.  They aren't terrible.  And I don't expect to find too much rot - but who knows.

[Clyde A. Phillips]

I would somewhat agree with Bob, but be aware that even total encapsulation of wood with a high moisture content will keep the water inside the wood giving the little critters that cause rot a change to feast heavily on the mast.  Even "dry" wood has some moisture inside waiting to do the work, but encapsulated "dry" wood should be every bit as good as not encapsulating and it sure has a much better chance of being better.  And it seems to me that the encapsulating process does not require fiberglass and should be good either way.  Make sure, if possible, to there good drainage for any water accumulating within.

[bob mitchell]

    My sense is that it is a question of whether you totally encapsulate or not. If you just fiberglass the outside, or put any totally waterproof coating on the outside, then any moisture that gets inside, through leaks or condensation, is trapped. So in my mind, if I am going to fiberglass the outside, then I would use epoxy to coat the inside as well (like Smith's CPES, clear penetrating epoxy sealer - not really meant for gluing, I don't think, but for sealing, and claims to be an excellent primer for varnish, not that that is relevant, or just regular epoxy). In other words, total encapsulation versus letting it breath. The situation is in some ways analogous to which way the moisture barrier in house wall should face. I think either way can work, but a poorly executed partial encapsulation is the kiss of death.