Unstepped the Mast

They unstepped my mast today, and Jeff Lezare, the rigger, inspected it an found some cracks in at least one of the swages at the base of my shrouds. Chances are, they're just as old as the failed chainplates, so I'm going to take this opportunity to replace them all. No idea what that will cost, but I really don't have a choice.

I removed all the shrouds this afternoon after they got the mast down and put it on horses next to the boat. Jeff is going to work up a quote for the new shrouds and I'm thinking of adding an insulated backstay to act as my SSB antenna at the same time. That'll simplify my radio issues.

I'm going to see if I can get the SSB working even though I'm out of the water. You can't legally use a marine SSB if you aren't on the water -- at least I don't think you can -- but since I have my ham license, I can use that. And if the ham frequencies aren't open, this would be a great time to fix that too. I may or may not have to send it Icom, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The biggest problems left to address are the stemhead fitting and the backstay chainplate, both of which might be a little difficult to get off. One of the screws holding on the stemhead fitting is covered by the port toe rail, so that might be a problem -- I sure don't want to remove the toerail -- and the backstay chainplate is completely glassed in, so it's going to be a bit of work getting it out.

Alternatively, I could add a 'Y' to the backstay and install 2 chainplates, but that's more expensive and may involve even more work reinforcing transom in 2 new places. I'll probably just cut out a section of deck around the chainplate and grind away the fiberglass covering it below deck.

In any case, I'll have to remove the section of toerail along the transom so I can get to it, which is good thing, since it needs a lot of work anyway. Actually, that might be where the fasteners are -- which would be very strange. Chainplates should always be accessible so they can be inspected, but when the boat was built 40 years ago, they might not have realized stainless steel wasn't completely corrosion proof.

I also need to winterize everything. I bought some anti-freeze yesterday, so I'll do the engine and head tomorrow. I'd like to wait as long as possible for the fresh water, but really don't think I have a choice. At some point, it's going to freeze. However, if I can get my diesel heater working, I can keep the boat, including the engine compartment, pretty warm all winter. I'm going to concentrate on that next. It's a whole lot easier using the faucet instead of water jugs.