June 25, 2011-Update: Mast is finished

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Refinished and re-assembled

We have had a few really nice days just doing mast work under the coconut trees on the yacht club lawn. We have a work table set up and we have all of our tools handy and the work is going smoothly. It is warm and quiet and very satisfying to work here each day.

We have now completed all the work on the mast and it is ready to go back into the boat. All we have to do is get the boat ready for the mast; the keel bolt backing plates (those which live under the mast) need to be replaced. We've taken one out and have had a new plate made. There are two more which we will do as soon as the first one is back in. It makes sense to do these even though they don't need it yet because they are showing some deterioration and probably will need replacing in the next few years. We'd have to pull the rig again to do them then. Might as well do them now.

"Cruising: doing boat work in exotic places"

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Richard's Bay, South Africa