Mast Rebuilding

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SchoonerScotty

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4 May 2004
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Hello Sailors,

I am thinking about rebuilding a box style 28' Long Spruce mast on my 1962 Seafarer Rhodes Meridian. The mast has a taper towards the top, and while 3/4 of the mast wood looks excellent from the outside, I am not sure about the inside, plus there are areas of dark glue lines and some separation appearing. The top 3' of the mast is rotted. Does anyone know of any issues of Classic Boat that may have detailed information on rebuilding a mast? or a good book to recommend? I am concerned about the safety, since if I botch the job, it could come down!

William_Wallace across the Western Ocean
 
I once had the dubious pleasure of rebuilding a mast similar to the one you describe. Proceed as follows (worked for me).
1) Place the mast on enough trestles such that it lays perfectly flat.
2) Take lots of photographs showing where every mast fitting goes.
3) Then remove them.
4) Scrape off all the old varnish or paint as it will never be easier than now.
5) Split the mast into it's component parts using wooden wedges.
6) Clean up the glue lines.
7) Let the timber dry then check for rot.
8) Scarf in new timber to replace rot. Use a minimum 7:1 scarf. I used epoxy but that was just because I had loads of the stuff.
9) Go out and buy hundreds of big, chunky, tie-wraps long enough to fit around your mast. Buy the gun that tensions them and cuts off the excess as well.
10) If using epoxy, use tropical hardener. This will give you valuable time to align everything.
11) Buy several crates of beer and invite your mates round with the promise of free beer AFTER the mast is glued together.
12) Do a dry run.
13) Do another dry run to prove it wasn't a fluke.
14) Glue your mast together with tie-wraps every 3" to 4". Handtight at this stage.
15) Check for straightness. Chock the mast if necessary (shouldn't be if step 1 done correctly)
16) Use the gun to tighten the tie-wraps evenly.
17) Wait until the glue cures (this is the beer drinking stage)
18) Use a sharp chisel to cut off the now redundant tie-wraps.
19) Sand, paint and mount the mast furniture.
20) Rig and step the mast.
 
Greetings TwisterOwner (quite a boat!), Woodlouse, and Mariposa!

Thank you so much for your insights and reference... I will scout out the 2005 issue of Classic Boat and with Mariposa's advice, will tackle the blasted job myself, this Spring!

Peace to all and Goodwill to you,

Happy Yule,

SchoonerScotty
 
I've just had a look at a couple of books that you might find useful:- a very well-illustrated book called "How to Build a Wooden Boat" by David C. McIntosh and Samuel Manning that has a chapter on spar making, also "Complete Amateur Boatbuilding" by Howard Chapelle. Both these books are published in the USA and I think they are still in print.
 
Hi,

I would suggest being careful with the wedging as suggested above to pull the mast apart.

It might work OK if it was glued with one of the older style glues but if it is epoxy it is most likely that there will be substantial tearing, cracking and breaking of the existing timber.

Michael
 
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