Month: January 2017

Installing the mast deck collar

For those of you who are non-sailors, our mast penetrates the deck and is ‘stepped’ on the keel.  Where the mast penetrates the deck, there is a metal collar to reinforce the area and stabilize the deck. 

Our old mast collar was completely corroded.  The aluminum actually discintigrated when I was trying to remove it.  


We had a new collar fabricated by Benchmark  Welding.  It was both a work of art and very sturdy.  

Sarah and I installed it this weekend.  It began by filling the existing holes as we changed the pattern to bolt into clean fiberglass. I haven’t played with fiberglass since college and had quite a bit of fun. 


We let this cure over night.  

The next morning, sanded and cleaned the area with acetone.  We marked the new hole pattern and began drilling.  The first hole was stressful.  It’s amazing how fast a sharp drillbit will go through 3/4″ fiberglass.  

I applied a good base of 3M 4000UV as bedding material and bolted it all together.  All in all, easier than I though to install. 

Holes drilled and dry fitted
Applying plenty of 4000
Evenly tightening the bolts
Drilling out the 1/2 in hole for the deck tension thingy
Finished product looks pretty good!!

Polishing our pole

Our mast has a fair amount of surface and bi-metal corrosion.  This is very normal as it’s painted and has lots of stainless drilled into the aluminum.  We decided to go back to basics and strip the mast and keep it aluminum rather than repainting.  This would save us some money at the expense of our labor, and in theory be lower maintenance.  

The downside of bare aluminum is that it oxidizes.  Some people don’t like the look, though the oxidization creates a stable barrier to the elements.  I’m fine with the ‘look’ but as I’m stripping the paint anyway I was guided by Chris at C.C. Rigging to polish and wax the mast.  This will make it shine and the wax will slow the oxidation.  

So began my Christmas holidays and two weeks of stripping, sanding, buffing and polishing.  


We discovered that at some point in its life, someone took an angle grinder to the mast presumably to remove some hardware.  Very disappointing, but I sanded most of it out over a day or two. 


Here is a good progression of the mast. 


Notice that shine!!!!

It was a fun exercise;  I enjoyed the manual labor and I picked up new skills.  I purchased a Makita polisher for the project.  It was a handful, but it will come in handy for future gel coat projects.