Re: Micro Mast

Mason

I assume from your post that your mast was broken at some specific point, rather than being completely destroyed or deteriorating in various places.

If it were mine, I would either:

a) build a new "shorter" end only and scarph it to the larger piece. b) scarph a new section, tapered per plans approximately for the section to be replaced but slightly oversized, into the damaged mast and then finish.
c) if only the top has gone, convert to a gunter rig (as in the 1993 review to Black Skimmer) which should allow you to get away with perhaps 16' of the main mast (hopefully you have enough left of the original) and 15' or so square section yard above, laced to the head of the sail. Bolger seems to place the halyard eye about 55% up the yard, which would give you 7' clear of the top of the main mast and a comfy 8' to balance down the luff to the hoist. For Black Skimmer Bolger specified a square/rectangular section hollow yard built from 1/2" thick staves. Either hollow or solid square section would be much easier than trying to patch the original or make a new mast. (Do note that Bolger tapers the forward side of the bottom section of the yard to give the luff a reasonably straight run from mast partner to head of yard.)

I would be tempted to try solution c) for the fun of it anyway, as I can see enormous advantages to a Micro with spars short enough to fit in the boat AND miss pine branches.

If you decide on this option (and it works) please tell us about it, as I am very tempted to give it a try for Oldshoe (19' mast for a 12' boat...)

I would also say I agree with Bruce that the Bolger masts do not require flawless expensive spar timber. I used the best bits I could get of what is sold as "Canadian Spruce" in Chile (I believe it is actually some sort of pretty standard decking timber imported from Canada), with small solid knots. I could only get 16' lengths of 2x6" so scarphed and then laminated from two pieces. for the 19' Oldshoe mast which tapers down to a minute 3/4". I have used it for a couple of seasons including complete capsize and the mast has shown no problems yet.

Please note I am neither a perfectionist nor a professional boatbuilder.

David
Santiago, Chile

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "adkgoodboat" <masonsmith@...> wrote:
>
> I have need of a new mast for the Pelican, my good old Micro. Anybody got a good one within a reasonable drive of the Adirondacks of Northern New York? I don't have to tell you all why I need one, do I? I hope not. But I may just say that I think there need to be a lot more trailer-sailing people on earth, so that we'd have enough numbers to insist that there be no big pine trees with outreaching limbs in the spproaches to our launch ramps.
> A Micro mast is, let's see: 23' overall, 3.5" thick at deck (three feet above foot). Stays almost that thick on up to snotter plate at 8' 6", then tapers (curved taper) to a fat inch at the head. Square below deck, octagonal on up. But you all know that.
> I could work down a bigger mast. I could build to the plan. Or this might be the day I learn to make a birdsmouth mast. But that's the kind of a thing I like to do for pay.
> Or I could sell the Micro at a distress-sale price. Yours as-is for $3500. But it seems as if I am supposed to keep it. I had it sold twice last year, money in hand, twice; and the buyers never took the boat, just came back for their money. One of them needed a new mast for his Beneteau.
>

That's not all that much work, probably almost as much to type it out . . . But the plugs, that's where I stalled out a little myself.

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, <masonsmith@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Thanks for chiming in, you stalwarts. Since Micro masts are of interest to
> more than just myself – particularly people who, unlike me, mind the weight
> of the spar in stepping and unstopping – I'll throw in more of my thinking
> and experience.
>
> First I should say that my mast was built up from a smaller racing sailboat
> mast. I scabbed onto the sides of that one, which was oval, and made a
> clothespin scarf on the foot to add length. It was a sweet mast and perhaps
> lighter than one built to plans. Chuck McCabe, a Micro builder near
> Syracuse, made a fir mast to the plans and it was discouragingly heavy. I'm
> checking to see if he'll sell it to me, but it might be too heavy for me
> too. And so meanwhile I am considering a new build, or a grown stick.
>
> I've made several smaller-boat masts of tamarack. They are wonderfully
> tough. They grow straight up overall, with suitable taper, but foot by foot
> they are actually rather wiggly, at least in smaller lengths. Very knotty of
> course. Moderate in weight. It's a thought. I used to be handy to a nice
> tamarack swamp. I'll go look into such a swamp if a logger friend will tell
> me where one is.
>
> The plans mast would be simple and fairly quick work. 4 scarphs,
> then the blank glued up, tapered 4-sided, tapered eight-sided, done. A lot
> of shavings on the floor. I've made a lot of laminated masts. It goes fast
> with a power plane and if you leave it 4- and 8-sided, which I would for a
> Micro, it's really quite fast.
>
> But just how much more work is a birdsmouth? Not terribly much,
> and far less power-planing. I'd scarf the materials in the raw form of 2 x
> 6s or 2 x 8s. (I have a well-developed source for clear long spruce but not
> long enough for 1-piece staves.) That's probably two big scarphs.
>
> Then I think I'd plane the thickness right down to the max width
> for a 3.5" birdsmouth stave, on the order of 1.5".
>
> Rip to about 7/8" staves and plane the sides, ending with ¾"
> thickness.
>
> Then I'd make a tapering jig with two templates. Clamp up all 8
> staves between the templates and taper them on one side only and all at
> once, with the power plane riding on both templates at the last.
>
> Then cut the birdsmouths on the table saw. These would be
> unequal-sided birdsmouths, requiring two careful set-ups.
>
> Ready to glue! But, and this is a drag, I'd have to make plugs
> for the foot, the area of the partner, area of the snotter. I can't picture
> what happens at the head, where there'd be little left of the staves.
>
> In the end, I think that is too fancy for the Micro. I'll do it
> plain, to plan. Clear spruce, of course. Run a wire up through the middle
> for an anchor light.
>
> No tabernacle for me, thanks.
>
> On the Micro, there are some built-in aids to handling the spar.
> Standing on deck aft of house, lift spar at the balance point, and poke the
> foot down into the bow-well, letting the foot catch in one of the step
> cutouts or under one of the 2 x 4crosspieces. Let the for'd edge of the
> cabin take the weight while you climb on top. Then lift it as far aft as you
> can and tilt it upright. Wiggle the foot to the step-hole and let it drop
> in.
>
> Unstepping, you do have to lift the full weight a few inches,
> out of the step-hole in the floorboards there, but then back up and let it
> down to rest again on the cabin edge while you scramble back to the cockpit
> to heft it near the balance-point again.
>
> For transport I like it and spritboom and mizzen mast all
> together right along the side of the hatch and parallel to the cabin-top. To
> have it so, I made a contraption to fit over the rail between house and
> partner, stbd side, and contain the bundle there; and I made a contraption
> to stand in the mizzen's place aft and carry and contain the bundle there,
> at the height that keeps it all parallel to the slope of the cabintop.
>
> With this set up, windage is minimum, I can climb aboard either
> side, open the hatch, use the companionway.
>
> Wasted our time here, probably. So long. Mason
>

On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 7:52 PM, prairiedog2332 <arvent@...> wrote:

>
> "(curved taper) to a fat inch at the head". Locating a 24' grown stick
> with with a tight knot-free grain and enough strength at that dimension
> might present a challenge. Then there is the matter of drying it
> properly to prevent checking or cracking.

Wood in the round is stronger than sawn wood.

In sawn lumber, knots, checks and cracks can cause a 'grain runout'
problem. You don't get grain runout in un-sawn stick lumber because
the cracks align with the grain, and the grain encircles the knots.

Yes, finding a cut stick with the exactly "correct" taper might be a
challenge. Trees do taper naturally, so it might not be as much
challenge as you guess. And, I suspect that the taper doesn't need to
be exact.

The one time I used a cut stick was for my Teal mast. I didn't find a
tree that was perfectly straight. That didn't cause much problem,
because it was pretty easy to cut the luff edge of the sail with a
curve that matched the 6 inch curve of the stick.

Birdsmouth!!!

I built them for my Defender (you've met it, and me, at the memorial, though I didn't have time to rig it), and I still marvel at them. Though I've now pirated the Defender rig for a swampscott dory project, and the spars are just sitting around. I'm thinking about building one for the Swampscott, but I remember when I was building the ones for Defender that there was a formula for figuring out the diameter of a birdsmouth spar vs. the stock spar--i.e, the birdsmouth must be fatter in diameter, though it will end up about, I don't know, 50% lighter or less. So you might look into that. They're easy--you could do it in an afternoon. Even the taper is a no-brainer. Finding the spruce, though, that would be the hard(er) part. Also the clamping part can get kind of intense with a large spar. You wet out the V-s in the strips and then the whole cylinder sort of snaps together when you get all those limp noodles magically aligned, then you wrap the whole thing in a cord of your choosing. . .

Dave

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "adkgoodboat" <masonsmith@...> wrote:
>
> I have need of a new mast for the Pelican, my good old Micro. Anybody got a good one within a reasonable drive of the Adirondacks of Northern New York? I don't have to tell you all why I need one, do I? I hope not. But I may just say that I think there need to be a lot more trailer-sailing people on earth, so that we'd have enough numbers to insist that there be no big pine trees with outreaching limbs in the spproaches to our launch ramps.
> A Micro mast is, let's see: 23' overall, 3.5" thick at deck (three feet above foot). Stays almost that thick on up to snotter plate at 8' 6", then tapers (curved taper) to a fat inch at the head. Square below deck, octagonal on up. But you all know that.
> I could work down a bigger mast. I could build to the plan. Or this might be the day I learn to make a birdsmouth mast. But that's the kind of a thing I like to do for pay.
> Or I could sell the Micro at a distress-sale price. Yours as-is for $3500. But it seems as if I am supposed to keep it. I had it sold twice last year, money in hand, twice; and the buyers never took the boat, just came back for their money. One of them needed a new mast for his Beneteau.
>

Bruce,

Totally agree that your suggestions would work fine.

By "good and proper" I was referring to the required taper which as
Mason mentions is a
"(curved taper) to a fat inch at the head". Locating a 24' grown stick
with with a tight knot-free grain and enough strength at that dimension
might present a challenge. Then there is the matter of drying it
properly to prevent checking or cracking. Arne Kverneland, Norway has
provided a lot of useful info in this regard, over at the junk rig
discussion group.

On larger boats, like the down east schooners and junks this is not
really a problem as I have observed and sailed on boats with checking
and cracks in the grown masts as there is a lot extra strength and they
are not designed to bend like the Micro mast. Same would apply to the
untapered mast of the Micro Navigator which also has the tabernacle so
weight of the mast is not that big a factor.

Perhaps the idea of a fiberglass sleeve has some merit. Perhaps not.
Just a suggestion is all. A lot folks do not feel a birdsmouth mast as
being "fancy". Many have been constructed with cheap pine scrap.
Requires some scarfing to get around the knots and a set of cutters for
a bench mounted router or a table saw makes cutting the birdsmouth
joints quite simple. Then rounding them as Chucks illustrates.

I have not tried it myself but have cut a lot of bead and cove cedar
strips for canoes which is basically the same technique.

Nels

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, BruceHallman <hallman@...> wrote:

> I beg to differ. "good and proper" means different things to
> different people. According to Phil Bolger on the plans, a "solid
> grown stick" would also be acceptable. The plans call for the simple
> lamination of two spruce 2x4's with 1/2 spacers to form a 3 1/2"
> square, cut corners down to be hexagonal. Modest 1:7 scarfs are
> acceptable if you cannot buy 24 foot lumber.
>
> PCB's Micro does not need fancy birdmouth spars, that is unless you
> personally want a Gold Plater, though that certainly is your choice if
> you want to pay the price in both time and money.
>
> Walking out in the woods behind the house and chopping down a straight
> 4 inch sapling tree would also suffice, and be quick and free.
>

On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 1:52 PM, prairiedog2332 <arvent@...> wrote:

>
>
>
> Building a good and proper mast like that for Micro is a fairly big
> project both in time and money.

I beg to differ. "good and proper" means different things to
different people. According to Phil Bolger on the plans, a "solid
grown stick" would also be acceptable. The plans call for the simple
lamination of two spruce 2x4's with 1/2 spacers to form a 3 1/2"
square, cut corners down to be hexagonal. Modest 1:7 scarfs are
acceptable if you cannot buy 24 foot lumber.

PCB's Micro does not need fancy birdmouth spars, that is unless you
personally want a Gold Plater, though that certainly is your choice if
you want to pay the price in both time and money.

Walking out in the woods behind the house and chopping down a straight
4 inch sapling tree would also suffice, and be quick and free.

Building a good and proper mast like that for Micro is a fairly big
project both in time and money. Not to mention that some of use older
and weaker individuals are becoming concerned about the heft of it when
it comes to stepping and un-stepping same.

Of course the obvious is to go with the tabernacle option. But if you
already have a completed Micro built from the original plans and have
already have dealt with the original challenge of pouring that keel,
perhaps it is worth considering other mast building options.

Chuck, over at Duckworks has devised a method to make a birdsmouth mast
from cedar and then covering it with a glass and epoxy reinforcement
sleeve. He has had great success with this method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDU560doctY

All it needs is a UV protective spar varnish to finish. Very little if
any sanding required.

Not sure how this would apply to a Micro mast which is square in
cross-section for the bottom section as Mason mentions. But perhaps the
step and fid could be modified to accept a round section instead?

There are several articles on building a birdsmouth mast both at
Duckworks and on youtube. Just Google at either location.

Nels

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "adkgoodboat" <masonsmith@...> wrote:
>
> I have need of a new mast for the Pelican, my good old Micro. Anybody
got a good one within a reasonable drive of the Adirondacks of Northern
New York? I don't have to tell you all why I need one, do I? I hope not.
But I may just say that I think there need to be a lot more
trailer-sailing people on earth, so that we'd have enough numbers to
insist that there be no big pine trees with outreaching limbs in the
spproaches to our launch ramps.
> A Micro mast is, let's see: 23' overall, 3.5" thick at deck (three
feet above foot). Stays almost that thick on up to snotter plate at 8'
6", then tapers (curved taper) to a fat inch at the head. Square below
deck, octagonal on up. But you all know that.
> I could work down a bigger mast. I could build to the plan. Or this
might be the day I learn to make a birdsmouth mast. But that's the kind
of a thing I like to do for pay.
> Or I could sell the Micro at a distress-sale price. Yours as-is for
$3500. But it seems as if I am supposed to keep it. I had it sold twice
last year, money in hand, twice; and the buyers never took the boat,
just came back for their money. One of them needed a new mast for his
Beneteau.
>

I have need of a new mast for the Pelican, my good old Micro. Anybody got a good one within a reasonable drive of the Adirondacks of Northern New York? I don't have to tell you all why I need one, do I? I hope not. But I may just say that I think there need to be a lot more trailer-sailing people on earth, so that we'd have enough numbers to insist that there be no big pine trees with outreaching limbs in the spproaches to our launch ramps.
A Micro mast is, let's see: 23' overall, 3.5" thick at deck (three feet above foot). Stays almost that thick on up to snotter plate at 8' 6", then tapers (curved taper) to a fat inch at the head. Square below deck, octagonal on up. But you all know that.
I could work down a bigger mast. I could build to the plan. Or this might be the day I learn to make a birdsmouth mast. But that's the kind of a thing I like to do for pay.
Or I could sell the Micro at a distress-sale price. Yours as-is for $3500. But it seems as if I am supposed to keep it. I had it sold twice last year, money in hand, twice; and the buyers never took the boat, just came back for their money. One of them needed a new mast for his Beneteau.