Boom, mast and spreader attention

Friday 23 Oct, HHN, boat winterizing day 23:
With all the Furlex apart and a completed list of parts made, today is time to turn attention to other aspects of the rig that I really want to get serviced before I leave. Mainly so I know which parts I might need to order for when we next return.

I start with the hydraulic outhaul cylinder, which is now out of the boom. As I mentioned before, I think it is simply a standard steel ram, likely adapted from one designed for heavy plant or agriculture. Although it has been well painted when new, there are rust patches appearing that need attention, and I’m concerned we might need a whole new cylinder. I strip off the padding that protects it inside the boom and get to work with a fine wire brush on the end of a drill. Thankfully, the rust pitting is not too deep into the metal.
With all rust spots cleaned to bare metal, I will now have to research what is the best painting solution. I believe I will need to apply a rust stabilizer first, then a zinc paint – like cold galvanizing – to completely seal in the exposed spots. Luckily, is does not matter what colour it ends up, because the whole cylinder will again be completely hidden inside the boom – only possible to observe with an endoscope. Maybe that’s why Selden used a plain steel ram … out of sight, out of mind to the customer!

Setting the ram aside for now, waiting on painting advice, I turn my attention to the outer end of the boom. A few rivets drilled out and 2 stubborn screws removed, the end comes off surprisingly easily. Where this shiny stainless steel outer end fitting touches the aluminum of the boom, corrosion has started. When I put it back, Tefgel will be liberally applied to try to quell future corrosion.
There are 2 sheaves in this end fitting. One for the spare outhaul, which is jammed solid from lack of use; and one for the hydraulic outhaul line, which is very worn and wobbly due to overuse. When sailing, it has recently started giving out annoying squeaks. So I’ll swap the sheaves around and hope for silent sailing in future.
With both ends now off the boom, I get to see right through it. I can reach in and check the internal guide sheaves. Hmmm, all 3 are solid as a rock, not rotating. Oooph, the more I look the more problems I find ☹. I’ll be drilling out a few more rivets to get them out and serviced too. The list of things to do on this rig seems ever increasing. But I keep telling myself, we don’t want the mast down again for a while, so this is the only opportunity to get things ship-shape for a few years of trouble-free (ha-ha!) sailing.

Next are the spreaders. These are made from aluminum sections with stainless steel ends, riveted in. Yes, you guessed it, where the 2 metals touch, there is a lot of corrosion. I take one of the small (top) spreaders to experiment on. Once I have drilled out all 18 rivets, there is nothing left holding it together. But it still takes a mallet and some force to get it apart, due to the extent of the metal-on-metal corrosion.
The stainless end fittings will clean-up like new, but not so easy to clean up the aluminum. I’ll consult with Steve from East Coast Rigging on Monday about what best to do on this one. Ideally, I could order from Selden several lengths of the same aluminum extrusion and remake the spreaders like new. But a) that will be costly and b) I have doubts Selden would sell me just the extrusion. I’m sure they will only sell complete built spreaders. Let’s see.
So the spreaders also go on the back burner along with the boom.

Next, is getting the 2 swivels out of the mast so I can service them. The lower of these swivels is at the bottom of the luff tube (that the sail rolls around) and the other travels up and down the luff tube, just the same as the halyard swivels on the foresails. To get them out for service, either the top of the mast or the base of the mast has to come off. I choose the top. It only has 6 bolts holding it on and no rivets to drill out. Well, no rivets that actually hold the top on that is.
Here, I just have to say something about dumb contractors. In this case, electricians. Selden do a beautiful job when they make the mast, putting (where they can) plastic between different metals, to stop corrosion. But then along come the electronics guys, who slap on antennas, cable retainers etc. They simply screw/rivet stainless directly onto the aluminum, with the result that 12 years later, they are all welded together by corrosion ☹.
Add to that, this particular dummy had screwed the antenna fitting flat up against a nut that I need to take out to get the mast head off. Where was this guy’s brain the day he fitted Cloudy’s mast with electronic goodies? Certainly not on the job! Here is another one: Selden make it very easy to simply pull the top sheaves out the mast to service or replace them. But not after the same electrician has riveted the wind instrument fitting directly over where the sheaves come out! Aaargh!
This is why I like to do my own maintenance. I don’t want wankers like that even looking at my boat, let alone approaching it with tools in hand. I pity those owners that have no choice in the matter. If you have a stable home port you might at least get to know who the good guys are … but for roamers like us, it must be a nightmare if you have to always rely on others, of unknown reliability, to do work.

Back on topic. With bolts removed, I try to pull the mast head off, hoping it will come like the boom end did. Nope, this one is more stubborn. There is only one course of action for stubborn … brute force. 2 clouting swings with a rather large piece of wood and the masthead surrenders (is there a joke about a headless mast? … oh no, sorry, that was a chicken). To get the swivels out, I now need to release the luff tube from the bottom. Easier said than done. This is where a gynecologist would come in handy. Small hands needed to get inside the mast. But eventually, even with my oversized hands, the luff tube is undone and free to come out the mast. I do briefly think about pulling this 70ft (22m) tube by myself, but then think better of it. I’ll call Ray in the morning, to ask for his help on that one.

With that, it’s almost dark again. Time to head in, eat and get merry.