geoffrey Osborn
Posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 - 11:57 am:
when I first bought Calidris the shroud, main halyard, and foresail attachments were achieved using eyebolts. Since a previous owner had also fitted (and wound up really tight) bottle screws rather than lanyards the eyebolts had bent and pulled through the wood to such an extent that rot had set in.
At the end of our first season with Calidris although I had replaced the bottle screws with lanyards the top of the mast broke off and brought down the gaff - luckily without further damage or personal injury.
A replacement piece of Sitka Spruce was turned down to my dimensions by a friend and mast bands (from Classic Marine) fitted after painting white. Removing the remains of the old mast top from the aluminium tube was a bit of a game though.
Any mast with eyebolts should be closely examined for rot where they pass through the
wood. If eyebolts are retained they obviously need sealing against water ingress.
Roger Parish
Posted on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 - 09:12 pm:
Too late to help geoffrey but I do have a spare (good condition) douglas fir Winkle brig mast complete with original mastband.