[Hilde's log]

A neighbor of ours had an interesting experience on her way across the Gulf recently. About 90 miles out, the step on the main mast disintegrated and the mast dropped about two inches into the keel. When the mast goes down, the tension on the standing rigging disappears, and so the base of the mast can move around on the keel. Main masts are big and heavy (ours is a modest 47' tall) so when they come down, they come down with a resounding whump. Fortunately no one was hurt, and she was able to limp back to Kemah using the motor. We found out about all this when she reappeared at Portofino, and David saw her drying out her jib on the berm instead of sending us post cards from Belize.

Neither David nor I had ever heard of a mast step disintegrating. Our neighbor's was made of mild steel, which tends to rot in sea water. Ours is not made of mild steel, but the rigging check showed….a rusted, disintegrating mast step. While it is not in immediate danger of breaking down, there is no way of knowing when it would reach the end of its life. Maybe a year from now? Five years? We decided to get it fixed and have one less thing to worry about. After all, it's reasonable maintenance for a 33 year old boat. Below are some photos that show the problem (and the dirt) and another photo of what a mast step should look like. 

Nasty mess.

Nasty mess #2.

This is what it will look like once replaced.

I am very grateful we were alerted to this problem and had enough sense to follow through with checking it out on Raven. Having the mast collapse in a calm sea is bad enough, but imagine if you had some rough weather, or were too far offshore to motor to port, or it happened at 2 a.m., which is when trouble delights in appearing. I keep this in mind as we write the check for the fix. It is a large check.

We need to schedule boat yard time to fix that problem and to install the various radar, upgrades, etc. that will be on the mast. The good news is, we can do a lot of the prep ourselves which will cut down on labor cost and we can kill two birds with one stone, labor-wise – all the things that need to be added to the mast can be done at one time while the step is being repaired/replaced.

Despite this new issue, things are moving on apace. David has finished one of the new instrument pods, wiring and all. This pod will be mounted vertically beside the helm pedestal for easy viewing (see photo below). There is a second pod in progress which will be mounted at eye level, horizontally, with the GPS, wind speed/heading indicator, etc.

Looks kind of like R2D2.

The main cabin has reverted to being workshop space, but will soon be clear again. David has finished the quarterberth shelves, complete with supports. We are thinking of making the lower portion a sleeping berth for a 3^rd person on board. A snug fit, but doable, and nicer than having to share a “hot bunk” with another crewmate.

At the beginning...

Finished! David fits in the space below, so it's a good length for sleeping. Just don't jolt upright in the night!

Looking up to the bottom of the shelves, you can see the supports and bolts to hold the shelves in place.

David has also finished wiring the starboard side with AC voltage, and has moved the battery charger from an inaccessible nook at the back of the quarterberth to a snug home he can easily reach from the deck access hatch. The switch panel was completed earlier in December, but it looks so nice I wanted to post a photo. The first photo below shows the mass of wiring; the one below that shows the finished product. David has spent hours stripping out extraneous wiring from 30 years and two previous owners and is happy that what is left is necessary and neatly laid out, instead of a tangled mess.

The guts of the thing, with wires everywhere. All these wires belong here. Wads of wires that went nowhere have been removed.

Neat and functional! We even have USB ports for the phones!

I keep trying to get David to add some commentary to the log, but he says he's too busy with his projects, so all the technical details will have to wait til he comes up for air.