Repairs

                                 3 beams, all Douglas fir. The left one was twisted & unusable. The 2 on the right we shortened to 24 ft. Each is 6" x 12". Glued together they will form the upper half of the main mast. To the right on the ground, the main & mizzen masts. 

                                                Setting up.
       Nick Kottler here. I worked with him 6 & 15 years ago at Hegarty's Boatyard in west Cork. His skill & knowledge level was phenomenal. I asked him to lead the repairs, and he stayed with me for one month. 

We reversed the beams - hearts out. An effort to reduce the weakening impact of the knots. 

   
                                         We made 40 clamps & used lots of epoxy. 

                                                   Chain saw work, to cut the scarf. 

                               Scarphs cut in the beam & the main mast. Lots of visitors!

                                                                   Fitting the scarphs. 

                                       Cutouts in both scarphs, to take iroko keys. 

Beam glued to the main mast. Scarph is 9 foot long. 

                                                    Next to the barn a calf was born. Lambs too.

                            Cutting down the beam to the mast dimensions and trueing it to the mast.

Beam cut to an octagon. Bags of sawdust in the background - we filled 50 bags. John Flaherty, my neighbor & benefactor, was kind enough to let me use his barn. A contractor, he kept things moving. 

                                                      Rounding. Douglas fir on top, original mast at bottom.

                    To round the mast & boom, Nick made this attachment for the drill & mounted an inverted 5 foot belt of sandpaper on it. The other end went around the mast. Extremely effective. 

At the spreaders. Mast is 9" thick here. Note the diagonal - this is the scarf. 
The parts come from all over! Lower left mast - Norwegian spruce, 40 yrs old. Upper right mast - Douglas fir from County Wicklow. Top - long leaf yellow pine from the Deep South, USA. Center trapezoid - iroko from Gabon. Dark wood - purpleheart from Brazil, which was shipped to Denmark & taken to East Greenland where I found a scrap & brought it home. The stainless steel fasteners - of course from China. 

Nick fitted a collar of purpleheart at the spreaders. This protects the mast from the lower side stays.

        Bruno (shown) and Lassie often visited with John Flaherty. Great joy on these occasions. 

    View of the mast from the top. 52 foot long. Varnished (Cetol). Masthead cap not yet on. 

Main boom, of 2" longleaf yellow pine. Laminated, rounded, hardware & cleats fitted, varnished. 

                     A-frame bowsprit of longleaf yellow pine, transported in the back of my little car. 

                        Bowsprit fitted & finished. Using old photos Nick reconstructed the dimensions of the pulpit & made it at the barn. 

                        The old cover for the steering cables was lost, made a new one. 

Mast moved out of the barn & set down along the road for pickup by Declan the trucker. John discussing the intricacies with Nick. 

                                     Masts dropped into Teddy & stayed. John's grandson James, who liked to help out. We are happy.