To cut a mast up !

One of the projects I wanted to do was to install a tabernacle in the mast. That way it would be easier to trailer and with one person the mast would go up. But in order to prepare the mast it must be cut. Scary!!!!

A Steel part was designed that would go into the lower part of the mast and it would become the pivot of the mast. I choose steel because of the pricing and the fact that I could get it galvanize in Baltimore that would help with any probable corrosion.

The part was made from a pipe with a 5 inch diameter and 3 feet long. Once up, the mast would rest inside the channel of the part.  The top hole in the part will serve as the pivot point and the lower will help secure it once up. The is another hole going from front to back that will be use to secure the mast with a smaller bolt. I copied the method from my neighbor that built a similar tabernacle.

This picture shows the channel where the mast will go in when raised and the hole that will use a bolt to secure from stern to bow. The part as it looks is already galvanized.

So this is when we first cut the mast. I recruited the help of Capt. Bob Smith of the J22 sunshine who happens to be an engineer, that way I could blame someone else if things went wrong!!!
Forgot to tell he is an electrical engineer, how does that help ? We were extremely careful with measuring before cutting...

This is Capt Bob measuring 50 times before cutting!!!

We marked the centerline in the mast and identified stern and bow.

Are you really sure we will cut there???

            We use the part as a guide and did some modeling before proceeding with the cut.

                         One can see where the center line of the bow is mark in the mast
The smaller piece next to the pipe will be used to hold the fwd and backward motion of the mast.

We were very sure, after measuring we decided to cut, if it came out wrong we would be looking for anew mast as we speak

 The pic shows the lower part of the mast and the part already fitted in with the top part of the mast inside the channel

you can see in the picture the small part that is fwd of the mast and will hold front back sway and its perfectly aligned with the marks we had.

The part will also act as a plate to distribute any pressure on the aluminum mast

The picture shows the pivot bolt already fitted and we are measuring to drill the lower bolt that will help distribute the weight of the mast.

The pic on top shows everything aligns, it seems I wont need to buy a new mast.

This si how the mast looks with the tabernacle in place.

The surgery was successful and the patient did not die!!!

It shows where the pivot bolt is, it will be replace with a ss bolts and cut to size so it does not protrude too much

This will make the lifting and taking down of the mast a one person procedure. No more awkward use of cranes and more than two people to take the mast down in order to trailer it.

Platero gets home

Platero gets home using a  Ford 350, we sort of forgot Platero was behind us when driving home, The truck did not feel the weight at all.

So of course a neighbor had to park right exactly where we needed to back up Platero making the maneuver much more difficult

UFFF!all of the sudden the neighbor came out to see what was happening with the car and the boat.  The insurance would never believe a catboat had hit the car while park in the street!!! It was good it never happened.

It only took two tries to park Platero in the driveway

Platero is in!

And the trailer is done!

Within a week of leaving Platero in the water I returned to with an almost new trailer. a good coat of galvanic paint , new wheels and bearings and new set of lights would allow me to take Platero home to start some of the work.
Platero was far from the crane so we had to tie a really long line on it to pull it to the right place. My mate Lotte was very helpful in pulling specially pass through the trees that were all along the shore.

Placing it between the belts that will lift Platero off the water..

Poniendole las correas a Platero

Here Platero is ready to be lifted unto the trailer

Platero listo para moverse al remolque

Getting it to sore

Platero going to the trailer

Bringing back the trailer

The almost new trailer

This si a tricky part I found out it is easier to put it directly from the water to the trailer than usingthe lift.

It was a matter of a few tries until we got it centered

Almost there

Platero weighs 2500 lbs (1140 Kg) for a sailboat of this length it is quite  heavy

Finally it is ready to go home

Will Platero float?

Platero primavera 2010

The trailer had not been moved in more than ten years!! So in order to make sure that the boat got home in one piece I decided to leave the boat floating in the pier and go work in the trailer for a week.

While on the crane we took a good look at the underside for cracks or surprises as I bought it in the spot and had not really taken a close look for any problems of the hull.

Here the original name Amanda is still on the hull. I did the correct process of burning the name in a log and float it in the water to give it back to Poseidon. Once he accepted the old name the boat was ready for the new name of Platero.

I took advantage of the lift to take a look at the centreboard. It is made out of steel and although pitted from heavy rust it looks like it could be worked on and maybe will give more years of service. That we will tackle some time in the future. It seems it weighs about 150# since most of the ballast is inside bilge of Platero

The hull needs heavy TLC!!!

Orza primaver 2010

The cable connecting to the centreboard looks in good shape. I am glad it was out int he water and in the trailer all these years.

Vista Orza promavera 2010

once Platero was in the water we tied it to the floating dock and it really showed all the work it needed. Years of neglect showed specially in the wood.

Platero bañera primavera 2010

Hopefully one day it will look much better than this

But the boat is well constructed and it shows for lots of teak and bronze fittings it was built with. Nowadays few small boats would bring such expensive materials.

Platero Washington Sailing Marina Primavera 2010

 So we left it floating for a week. The boat was well in its lines all week long and the bilge was nice and dry on my return.