Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The mast is up, er' on.



This weekend Alia, John and Thomas came up to Sequim to help me ready the boat for transport.

Gordan had taken down the shed and uncovered the boat. We rounded up all the hardware that came off the boat from their various hiding places and stowed it inside Winterhawk. Alia and John Taped off the ports and hatches to keep the rain out. The major task for the day was to get the mast off the saw horses on onto the boat.

The week before I had lifted one end of the mast. To my surprise, it was far more flexible and lighter than I had expected. But I quickly learned there is a big difference between lifting 1/2 the mast and all 48 feet of it.

After some debate we decided the best route was to move one end at a time. We sent Thomas up the ladder with the forward end of the mast, while John pulled from the top side with a stout line. The rest of us guided the butt end. Once the forward end was resting on the bow pulpit and a saw horse, we brought the aft end up a ladder, again with the lift/ pull technique. All in all it worked well, but my neck is still stiff. I owe you all another round!
Now the mast is on, Winterhawk is ready to make the trip down to Seattle where the real work can begin.

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