Dale Simonson (dsimonson)

Starting a new build... she's a Paul Gartside design, a 19-foot gaff rigged centreboard sloop. First step (after choosing and securing the plans) is to source and prepare the wood for the hull. 3/4" western red cedar, strip build, sheathed in fiberglass cloth inside and out set in epoxy. Let the fun begin!

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Arnt and I working on the planing of the mast down to final tapered size. Next we have to round it… first to 8 sides, then 16, 32, 64, then sand to final round shape!

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We’ve been working on a mast for the new boat. My partner in the build, Arnt, had a mast that was built for his 23-foot gaff cutter that was not the right size, so he built a new one and hung this one in the rafters of his shop. We scraped the paint off it, and ripped it down the middle on the big bandsaw, to see what it looked like inside. It’s made of Douglas Fir, glued up from a number of pieces into a solid stick about 22 feet long. Almost tall enough for the new boat, but it had a bit of rot in the base. So we cut off that bit and scarfed a new piece in which brought the length to a bit more than specified. (Go big or go home!) The plans call for the mast to be hollow from above the step to where the stays attach, so we ran a skill saw up and down the centre of each half, to the correct depth, and then chiseled the centre out to make the sidewalls 7/8”, as per plans. Then glued the two halves back together, and glued the new base in. Now final tapering and rounding is underway. Good fun!

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This is the new section of solid Douglas Fir we've added to the bottom of the "recycled" mast for the new boat. The end will remain 8 sided for about 18 inches to fit into a tabernacle, a sort of a hinge that will make the raising and lowering of the mast easier, and then transition to round above that.

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