Wooden mast protection

[Neil]

I rig and launch my boat every time, and in stepping the mast, if I'm not careful, I gouge out a bit of the mast on a block near the base. Since I'm stepping the mast so often, the appearance of the mast will deteriorate with time. What might one might suggest to protect this area from continued damage? The area of the mast that might rub against it's location seating has a leather strip all the way round, but leather might not stand up to the block so well.

A thin band of stainless would be ideal - actually a curved plate would do it......

 

[sarabande]

ice cream cartons are made out of polyethylene and are very slippery, yet easy to cut to a required shape. And replaceable ! A sacrificial cover in the best traditions of PBO.

 

[Neil]

Thanks! easier to curve than stainless