Our first fully dry day for what seems like forever and what a difference it has made!! Our last work on the mast was in Slow progress preparing the Main mast for refurbishment, plus tangs continue
Today the first task was to try to get the mast foot off. We we used two heat guns at the same time; we applied lots of WD40; we used vinegar to help with the corrosion; we used a slide hammer through a hole I drilled in the mast foot (I bent the “hook” so it wasn’t a great success); we used chisels with the hammer; we used a dremmel to cut all the way around the joint. Eventually it started to move. In the end we got it off and then had a big surprise as lots of disgusting crumbled polystyrene fell out.
There were several hours when I didn’t dare believe it was going to work. However, the end result is really encouraging, with some cleaning and then epoxy coating we are going to be able to fully reuse the mast foot on the original end of the mast.
We then started cleaning out the polystyrene debris (looks like the mast was lined with polystyrene but it has broken up). We took out two black sacks full.
The really good news at this point is that we discovered that there is a wiring conduit already fitted. It will be a tight squeeze for our cables and I might add some rivets to make sure the conduit doesn’t come free.
With that done I carried on stripping stuff off and then Jane did a first clean to get rid of the green growth. A bit more to be done before we can paint.
Still not sure which of the remaining fittings I’m going to remove before we paint. We also have decisions about what we fit to the mast. However, that can wait for the spring. Our first objective is to get both masts painted with epoxy primer, then epoxy filler, before epoxy undercoat, and top coat. It will be much less wasteful to do both masts the same time. Fortunately the forecast is looking good at the moment.
When we do get ready to put the main mast up it is going to be fitted out very differently. Still got lots of decisions to make about that, so more later.
Sustainable Sailing 