Wooden Masts

There are good things about having wooden masts and bad things. One of the good things is it looks good and if it is damaged you can fix it whereas an aluminum mast is normally scrap if bent or dinged. The bad thing is the maintenance that they require. Up north in the great Lakes, one coat of varnish a year will do the job. Down here, one every 6 months is what you have to do. A month back I finished my varnish work on the boat but, while at the top of the mast, I found a couple of spots where the varnish has broken open and needed repair.

Hanging out at the top of the mast

the black is where the varnish broke through

This can let water in which will result in rot if not caught early. The trouble is that it’s near the top of the mast. So, I have to get out the boson chair, a scraper, some sand paper and my touch-up bottle of varnish.

 

This is a bottle of nail polish that I’ve removed the nail polish from the bottle, cleaned it out and refilled with varnish. The bottle (with it’s built in brush) is just right for touching up small spots without having to open up the big can just for a little job. Then, it’s up the mast to scrap, sand, and varnish the spot. Now, I have to repeat this 7 more times and I can call this repair good again.

You might wonder how I get up a 54 foot tall mast, well, I climb it.  Anna tails the rope around the winch as I climb the mast like some one would climb a palm tree to get coconuts. I draw up my feet and then push them against the mast while pulling up with my arms.

My legs do most of the lifting while my arms lift and hold me against the mast. Every time that I move up I call out “PULL” and Anna takes up the slack.

This way she isn’t lifting me she’s just keeping the rope snug as I climb the mast for safety. It takes about 60 sec to climb the mast and nobody has to slowly ‘crank’ me to the top. It’s a lot of work for a tiny nick in the varnish but necessary. On the pluse side, it's a great view!