When we bought Tilly I was more than a little hesitant about the wooden masts. Since we bought Tilly, each autumn, winter and spring I've looked at the rain pouring down on it and the paint slowly peeling away and thought - we really need to get round to investigating and treating those masts.
And so the hard labour began...
Here's the bottom quarter, all nicely scrapped back from standing on the deck:
Up I went to as close to the top as I could get:
Once up there I scrapped and sanded. I'm not sure whether it was having a purpose and a job, being over the water or something else but I didn't feel that gripping fear at all. Lucky, as I don't think it will be the last time I need to go up there.
After a couple of hours - maybe even three - of working my way down scrapping and sanding I reached the bottom. Also lucky, the mast was in great shape - no signs of rot and no issues. Just to be sure we decided to take the bottom band off which holds the boom:
Looking good and no signs of rot, just a few harmless bugs. We sanded it back and epoxied it to ensure its waterproof and safe under that fitting.
Duncan then decided it was his turn to take a look and to investigate taking the top band off.
Turned out we would have to take the rail off too, and as it all looked in good shape and the rail is well sealed, we decided to sand, scrap and leave it there.
It's all ready for sealing and painting tomorrow. One (small) mast almost done, one (big) mast for another time!
And so the hard labour began...
Here's the bottom quarter, all nicely scrapped back from standing on the deck:
For a few hours work, interspersed with scrapping handrails and other bits and bobs, I thought to myself - that's not bad.
However, this remained:
I'm not bad with heights. Duncan loves to climb, and so do I - until I look down. I've often looked down and frozen myself halfway up the indoor climbing wall. One particularly funny time was getting stuck on top of a ledge mentally unable to climb up or descend for what seemed like hours and was definitely minutes rather than seconds. So I wasn't looking forward to climbing up that mast, let alone being up there for an hour or two.
Duncan showed me the Bosun's Chair and asked me if I wanted to use only that. If you've ever seen one, they don't inspire confidence. "No way" was I going up there, in that. I demanded my climbing harness. Duncan secured me in my harness on one rope.
We then talked about the Bosun's Chair, which we decided to use on another rope. As fail safe as you could ask for. The Bosun's Chair is also much more comfortable than being hung from your climbing harness for any length of time.
Up I went to as close to the top as I could get:
After a couple of hours - maybe even three - of working my way down scrapping and sanding I reached the bottom. Also lucky, the mast was in great shape - no signs of rot and no issues. Just to be sure we decided to take the bottom band off which holds the boom:
Looking good and no signs of rot, just a few harmless bugs. We sanded it back and epoxied it to ensure its waterproof and safe under that fitting.
Duncan then decided it was his turn to take a look and to investigate taking the top band off.
Turned out we would have to take the rail off too, and as it all looked in good shape and the rail is well sealed, we decided to sand, scrap and leave it there.
It's all ready for sealing and painting tomorrow. One (small) mast almost done, one (big) mast for another time!