Need a new Ensign staff

[Elemental]

After a tussle in the lock at Shotley Marina (grrr - some people really need to proceed with more care) I need a new flagstaff. The original was around 750mm and made of teak. I can find some teak replacements, but they all have a domed top and the old one was just a straight (well, slightly tapered) staff. Much more elegant I feel. Does anyone know where I can get one?

 

[sailorman]

why not make one
simply screw some blocks with a single screw to a board to the desired curve & cramp up some teak laths to the blocks.
i noticed quite a queue outside there yesterday

 

[Pete7]

Wooden curtain pole from about £6 should do the trick. dark coat of varnish and no one will know the difference.

Pete

 

[sailorman]

Wooden curtain pole from about £6 should do the trick. dark coat of varnish and no one will know the difference.

Pete

The OP will & the rest of us East Coaster too. This isnt the Sarf Coast yer know

 

[pvb]

When I was looking for a new ensign staff last year, I was horrified by the prices of teak ones. In the end, I bought a beautifully tapered stainless steel staff from Piplers, about half the price of teak, much more robust, and zero maintenance. Oh, and it's already been tested against the concrete sides of Shotley's lock, and survived!

http://www.piplers.co.uk/books-and-...n-staffs-and-fittings/osculati-fender-baskets

 

[nigelmercier]

I made one using a bit of dowel and a home-made lathe made from a drill and a few blocks of wood.

 

[NormanS]

After a tussle in the lock at Shotley Marina (grrr - some people really need to proceed with more care) I need a new flagstaff. The original was around 750mm and made of teak. I can find some teak replacements, but they all have a domed top and the old one was just a straight (well, slightly tapered) staff. Much more elegant I feel. Does anyone know where I can get one?

In a Forum for Practical Boat Owners!

 

[alan_d]

In a Forum for Practical Boat Owners!

Err .... This is Scuttlebut.

 

[elton]

Wooden curtain pole from about £6 should do the trick. dark coat of varnish and no one will know the difference.

Pete

I made mine out of a snapped broom shank. Three coats of varnish. Just the job.

 

[Daydream believer]

I have a length of plastic overflow pipe with the ensign fixed on with electrical tape.
I have intended to replace it since I first used it in an emergency 15 years ago, but somehow it has become part of the boat. I even turned down the free gift of a teak one from an ex boater in favour of keeping it

 

[johnalison]

I must be the only sailor in the UK who went to a chandlers' and bought one when mine was broken. Actually, my wife marched the owner of the boat that did it to the cash point in Eastbourne to make him do the paying.

 

[DJE]

Handy place to put your AIS antenna if you're making a new one.

 

[lw395]

Handy place to put your AIS antenna if you're making a new one.

Obscures the sternlight nicely.
Ouzo candidate......

 

[NormanS]

Obscures the sternlight nicely.
Ouzo candidate......

Not if you take it down at sunset!

 

[DJE]

Not if you take it down at sunset!

Or just wrap it round the staff and carry a white flare in the cockpit at night in memory of Ouzo.

The black block behind the ensign is the lifebouy mounting BTW the sternlight is in front of the backstay adjuster in that picture.

 

[Hydrozoan]

I bought one when the boat was acquired - it was fine, but I undercooked the ensign, which was more like a courtesy flag. Then a daughter bought a property unoccupied for many years, complete with contents to be cleared - including a fine sewn ensign of decent size complete with staff.

Looking that gift horse in the mouth, it's not got a metal ferrule so in wet weather the wood swelled up and jammed in the socket, and it's been sanded down to avoid that and is a bit wobbly when dry - a point to consider perhaps if you go for a wooden one?

 

[Boo2]

Obscures the sternlight nicely.
Ouzo candidate......

Isn't it customary to take them down at dusk ? Or is that just when in harbour ?

Boo2

 

[NormanS]

Isn't it customary to take them down at dusk ? Or is that just when in harbour ?

Boo2

Etiquette and common sense would both suggest taking the ensign in at sunset. Not a lot of sense in flying a flag in the dark.

 

[colind3782]

Etiquette and common sense would both suggest taking the ensign in at sunset. Not a lot of sense in flying a flag in the dark.

And it makes them last longer which, according to the story, was the origin of the "etiquette" ordered by the Admiralty as they were going through too many flags.

 

[BelleSerene]

Not if you take it down at sunset!

Which you should not do at sea. It's in harbour (or at anchor) that you do that.