Mast & Boom Refurbishment (Part 1)

[Downeast Thunder]

It’s still “Wintah” here in Downeast Maine, but I was fortunate to catch a day with sun, no wind, and a few degrees above freezing. I took advantage of that by starting in on the big job of refurbishing the aluminum spars from my donor boat in preparation for installing them on my new 18’ pocket cruiser, sailboat build.

This part deals with stripping all the hardware and rigging off the spars. In subsequent parts (later on in the season when the weather is much warmer), I’ll apply “aircraft” paint stripper and remove the mast coatings down to bare metal. I can then perform a close inspection. Later on, I will be priming and painting the spars, then re-installing hardware.

[NortonDommi]

Something wrong there - nothing marine over a year old ever comes apart that easy. : )

[Downeast Thunder]

NortonDommi: Perhaps not to some, but to a professional marine engineer with several decades of experience and the proper tools, it's no big deal. If you have problems doing this type of work, don't worry. If you keep at it, you'll learn a few tricks along the way and eventually the work will get easier for you.