April - Mods continue...Soon will be back in the water!

Seats, Mast Wiring & LifeLines


I've re-rigged the life lines as part of the Stern Rail Seat installation. After reversing the aft life lines, I lowered the connection to the pulpit rails and added a set of snap shackles mid deck so that I can open the lines during rigging. It will make is so that I don't have to perform the "mac dance" with the mast to get the spreaders above the life lines. It will definitely save time when rigging and de-rigging; additionally, the mac dance is hard on the lower back.

Installing the Stern seats was easy but time consuming. The hardest part was cutting holes in the hull to provide access to the nuts for the aft rail stanchions.

I used a dremel with cutting tip to cut an access hole once I located and marked the hole.

The floatation foam in the cavity needed temporarily removed so that I could put on a plate and tighten the nuts for the stanchion bases.

I had decided to add aluminum plates to spread the load. I used Deck Plates to seal the holes. The ring is sealed with marine 4200 and bolted. The cover screws into the ring and self seals.

Once the frame was completly bolted on, the seat was simply four screws. There are rings built into the seat frame which can have blocks connected to make lifting the rudders easier.

As soon as I can budget in a pair, I'll get them and re-rig the rudder lift lines!




With the mast off, I pulled Galactica to the house and gave her a very thorough scrubbing. She had collected a lot of dust just sitting in the barn for the winter. Here, she looks clean but naked without her mast. The new stern seats were visible.

I put the mast crutch and bimini back on. I test fit the bimini (pictured)and will have to slide it forward so that it doesn't block the stern seats.



Another mod involves adding a mast head anchor light. I found an LED anchor light cheap on ebay. Additionally, I found an LED steaming light with a built in Halogen Deck light. I ran 1/2" conduit the length of the mast.



I tied ropes into the rafters and lifted the mast--foresail, rigging and all. After pulling the boat out from under the mast, my son Damon helped me lower the mast down to saw horses. The last time out, I had foolishly switched the bolt holding the mast base to the bow pulpit to a quick pin meant for the mast base when under sail.


The thought was to speed up rigging time and reduce the need for two more wrenches during rigging. Well, apparently inertia bent the heck out of the base plate and rotating bolt--perhaps when braking to slide the boat the last inch to the winch crutch. I'm adding rollers and bunks to help prevent that need in the future. That's expensive mistake I'll not make again. The replacement base is on order from BWY in Seattle.

Using a dremel, I cut saw teeth in the end of the first 10 foot section of conduit. I drilled out the rivets holding the top cap in place and began drilling a hole in the foam core of the mast by pushing and twisting the conduit, pulling it out occassionally to clean the foam out of it. This was extremely easy...for the first 5 feet or so. Then I used channel locks then a pipe wrench to keep turning the conduit.

Finally, it got too hard so I switched to a soft mallet and began laboriously pounding the conduit in.



As I got the section in, I added another 10 foot section and pounded some more. In all, I pounded four 10 foot sections down the mast. I trimmed off the excess and ensured that the conduit was free of foam.

I decided to use the existing pos/neg wires on the new steaming light combo by using a three way center off switch. It saved me having to fish wires from the steaming light 10 feet up the mast to the base. I simply had to run two wires from the mast head down the conduit to the base. Easier said than done.



I don't own an electrical fish wire. I tried thicker wire, weed eater wire, electrical fence wire and more. Many times, I'd get it about 26 to 27 feet down the mast and no more.




Finally, I tried underground 3wire romex. Once I taped a 2' garden stake on the fron and carefully straightened the romex, I was able to push it all the way through. Next, I taped the two anchor light wires to the end. I rigged the wire spools so that they were on a makeshift axle, I simply pulled the romex out the base until I had extra wire on both ends which I tied off so that I could finish wiring the lights once the mast was safely back onto the boat.




I removed the foresail from the mast to make loading it back onto the boat easier. Fortunately, a large number of my son's friends held a surprise party for his 17th birthday tonight. I enlisted a half dozen of the young men and women to carry the mast out and hand it up to me on the boat! Whew! That was easy.