New Mast!

[jamie N]

My original mast finally became unserviceable back in March, and I had the task of finding a new one. Being based at Inverness does place another hurdle in place, that's the price of transport from manufacturer, which made me think towards a more local alternative.
I approached Johnson & Loftus in Ullapool, who told me that they'd do it, sure, but I'd have to wait until November for them to get started!
They did give me an option of trying someone else at Isle of Ewe boats.
OK, if one's going to recommend a 'rival' builder, then that's an endorsement on its own.
I contacted Alasdair Grant, who is Isle of Ewe boats, and he quickly gave me a price and time after a small discussion. I took the old mast to him, we finalised a few of the details that are a bit 'individual' and shook hands.
The mast arrived yesterday, and is a work of art; it's perfect. I asked for a couple of things to be done for me, such as all the holes through the mast for the hounds etc., to be pre-drilled and to have been 'soft' fitted, so that I'd be able to give the mast a coat or two of varnish before fitting it out.
Of course the drought has now passed up here, and I'll not be able to varnish until the weekend, but (having paid the bill), if I was wanting the same again, I'd make the same call.
Any grumps about it? Not really, they contacted me when they'd something to tell me, which some might be uncomfortable with, but didn't phase me.

The new one's the one on top, by the way.........

 

[Wansworth]

My original mast finally became unserviceable back in March, and I had the task of finding a new one. Being based at Inverness does place another hurdle in place, that's the price of transport from manufacturer, which made me think towards a more local alternative.
I approached Johnson & Loftus in Ullapool, who told me that they'd do it, sure, but I'd have to wait until November for them to get started!
They did give me an option of trying someone else at Isle of Ewe boats.
OK, if one's going to recommend a 'rival' builder, then that's an endorsement on its own.
I contacted Alasdair Grant, who is Isle of Ewe boats, and he quickly gave me a price and time after a small discussion. I took the old mast to him, we finalised a few of the details that are a bit 'individual' and shook hands.
The mast arrived yesterday, and is a work of art; it's perfect. I asked for a couple of things to be done for me, such as all the holes through the mast for the hounds etc., to be pre-drilled and to have been 'soft' fitted, so that I'd be able to give the mast a coat or two of varnish before fitting it out.
Of course the drought has now passed up here, and I'll not be able to varnish until the weekend, but (having paid the bill), if I was wanting the same again, I'd make the same call.
Any grumps about it? Not really, they contacted me when they'd something to tell me, which some might be uncomfortable with, but didn't phase me.
View attachment 142562
The new one's the one on top, by the way.........

How many coats!?

 

[DownWest]

Jamie, what type of construction? My current one is box (27ft), as I was a bit nervous about birdsmouth with the sharp taper to the top.
DW

 

[Tranona]

Two coats of Sikkens HLS followed by 3 of Cetol 7 and it will look like this.

 

[jamie N]

How many coats!?

There's a couple of coats of "sealer" on the mast already, and I'm going to add 'a number' of Le Tonkinois, but how many; not sure yet and am happy to receive advice.

Jamie, what type of construction? My current one is box (27ft), as I was a bit nervous about birdsmouth with the sharp taper to the top.
DW

She's a solid mast, with some very impressive looking scarfed sections. Total length is 9.68m. The main halyard block is 'internal', as in the halyard goes through the mast, I specified that he did this, as he'll always make a better job of it, and it's a critical fitting. For the masthead, where the fitting which has the backstay, and the 2 diamonds attached to it, has had a very slight recess cut into it, which precisely matches the detail on the fitting.
I love that attention to detail!

Two coats of Sikkens HLS followed by 3 of Cetol 7 and it will look like this.View attachment 142566

Very nice! As I say, there are 2 coats of 'a' sealant on already, so I'm going to be putting a coat of Le Tonkinois on, then doing a sanding job as the present surface isn't 'smoothsmooth', then see what happens.

The only conversation that was had concerning the coatings was that he approved of Le Tonk, and that to protect the vulnerable area beneath the hounds was to swathe it in CT1 before attaching the hounds. The CT1 is flexible and adhesive, so will work well I hope.
By the way, the hounds are attached by a bolt going through the mast, which he did for obvious reasons. On the hounds fitting there are also small holes for extra securing screws, to give even more stability I guess. He's drilled these holes for me already; that's doing the whole job!

 

[Tranona]

The hounds on my mast are attached in the same way and although not with CT1 they are still there from 1963! That mast was hollow Douglas Fir and 10m, but deck stepped and much bigger section than a Folkboat. However a work of art and one of the things I loved best about the boat. Stripping and recoating took the best part of 2 weeks on and off.

I have been using CT1 a lot on my GH (which is a bigger version of the old boat) - but GRP hull and epoxy sheathed wood top with plenty of teak trim!

 

[Blueboatman]

That all sounds beautifully thought out

 

[jamie N]

On my previous mast, beneath the hounds was a water trap between the fitting and the mast, which went rotten through to the core of the mast, not overnight, but over several years of being overlooked!
It was a weak point, and something that I'd never done a thorough inspection of, so quite poor IRM from a guy whose life has been IRM!

 

[tidclacy]

Le Tonkinois is the way to go

 

[jamie N]

Had a good weekend with perfect weather for applying 2 coats of Le Tonkinois to the mast, doing one half, then working on preparing the new cables for the tri-colour and steaming lights, as well as the VHF/AIS cabling, all to have a new deck socket plug on them.
After a few hours, it was a case of turning the mast to varnish the 'other' side. Simple, great weather, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, the VHF is at the mast head, and the AIS antenna is a couple of metres lower, so I wanted to measure the correct length on the new RG58 reel that I'd bought. I laid out the cable, got the tape measure and jammed it into a gap at the bottom of the pontoon, and went the 8 metres to the cut point, and put the tape measure down, then watching it wind itself back sliding along the pontoon, building up enough speed to hit the jammed end with enough force to free it, before continuing to slide along the remaining metre of the pontoon and 'Splash'!
Tape measures don't float. ?

 

[jamie N]

Got the mast up this morning, and discovered a very small difference between the old and the new item: the new is a couple of cms. longer at the bottom. I think that the measurements were taken from the top of the mast as the hounds and lower connection for the diamonds are spot on. The 2 aft shrouds were just able to be connected, whereas the lower stays were 'just' too short, by maybe a 1cm.
Not a game changer as I scrounged from our very good local onsite electric/rigger bloke a couple of slightly longer connectors from the bottle screw to the rigging, which cured the issue The fore and back stays weren't too difficult as they were able to cope with the extra.
The mast looks fabulous, and has placed pressure on me to 'adjust' the boat to match. I've not fitted any of the wooden halyard cleats yet, as I wanted it to be in place to ensure that it's all as good as it can be.

 

[DownWest]

Sounds good!
Just curious, but in the thread on sliders, there was a ref to 'if you had a luff rope groove' Do you? or have an attached track?
Reason is...Not easy to find track about here, so gluing an ally tube with a slit in it to provide a track. Half diam groove in mast, routed out, then glue in the tube with fillets to fair and clamp it in. Not mainstream, but cheap! Tube is €25, brass track about that a foot! Will 'wet sand' the ally with epoxy before fitting.

Was there any reason not to cut the extra 2cm off the mast foot? Or is it too beautiful.....?

 

[jamie N]

As to the sliders, there's a 'routed' luff groove, integral with the mast. However, the way you describe with a glued in luff groove does work, as my Cadet mast was changed from a track in that way, by my Dad.
He removed the track, then routed in a slot, and bought some luff groove from 'Needlespar', as all of their masts essentially used it.
It was remarkably simple and worked without any effort.
That was 50 years ago of course, but I'd happily put it onto any mast today.
To cut off the extra 2cms. Yes, a very good reason in that it'd have taken a separate 'lift off' @£135.00, then removing the protective foot, which I'd securely attached, sawing it squarely off, replacing the foot and getting another slot to step the mast with the marina at a further £135.00.
Making the choice between the above and explaining it to my wife, or chatting up my mate Pete Guy for the fittings and having to spend £2.76 on an extra 32mm clevis pin, I'm sure that you'll see the wisdom of my choice!
Of course, the real reason isn't that I'm scared of my wife, it was only that the mast is too beautiful.
Obviously.