Sleeving the Mast

A small, shallow crease was somehow formed on the front of my mast just below the partners. This crease was present when we bought Maybe. Perhaps the mast was dropped or the base slipped when stepping or unstepping it? After closer inspection, small hairline cracks were radiating from the crease in an outward direction. It was easy to see that the mast could fail if left alone.

The big question I had was how should this should be repaired. The initial thought I had was to have the crack TIG welded. Researching the web resulted in several so-called "experts" advising against welding saying that it would "remove the temper." Short of having an annealing oven, it sounded like a T4 temper was the best result I could expect from localized tempering. Short of the original T6 temper didn't sound too exciting to me. Plus the weld process could be too easily screwed-up if the wrong rod was used. I wanted to see if there was a "better way" available.

Consulting with Charleston Spar (Sparcraft), they recommended sleeving the mast from the inside using the very same J/24 (DM-375) mast section. Sleeving a mast is a common method for joining spars over 50'. Spar length is usually limited by the length of the temper ovens. With this lead, I again searched the net finding surprising little on the topic. One site that was most helpful is Brion Toss' SparTalk.

I assembled a short list of sleeve assembly specs as follows:

1. Splice plate(s) must fit absolutely tight against the repaired spar (cut the spar in half if needed)
   
2. The splice plate should be at least 3x the chord length
   
3. Use stainless steel machine screws (flat head undercut) of sufficient length to clear the innermost section
   
4. Drill, countersink, and tap the holes approximately 4x the diameter from the edge, hole, etc. and then 8x the diameter of the machine screw thereafter
   
5. Stagger the screws in the adjacent rows

I cut a small section off the sleeve piece and then cut the back channel off for a test piece. Sure enough, the fit is perfect if the front most portion is secured first.

After confirming the snug fit, I then cut a 4x chord length (~20"), exceeding the 3x recommendation. Going beyond this length could affect tuning.

Since the sleeve was still a single piece, it had to be compressed and pounded into the mast. WD-40 was used to prevent galling and help the mast slide easier.

Next, I proceeded to mark the frontmost portion of the mast and center punched each hole to keep the drill bit from walking.

Based on the thickness of the spar and mast, I chose to use a #8-32 UNC thread SS machine screw. I first drilled 3/32" pilot holes, followed by an undersized 1/8" hole, counterbore, and a good quality tap and some thread cutting oil. Using a slightly undersize 1/8" bit rather than a #29 bit for a #8-32 tap is adviseable with soft materials such as aluminum.

Run the counterbore slowly to prevent sharp edges forming on the counterbored holes. Also use a stop collar on the counterbore to control the depth. The finished product results in a near flush mounted screw.

Practice drilling, counterboring, and tapping of a leftover piece of spar to get the process down before attempting it for keeps. I found it nearly impossible to strip the Phillips head screws. There is incredible clamping power in those little countersunk screws!

Remember to start at the frontmost part of the mast to pull the sleeve tight against the mast and work your way outward from there one row at a time. It's also adviseable to drill a small hole at the extreme ends of a fracture to prevent a crack from propagating.

Working out from there was tedious. Mr. Miller soon helped out and made the job easier.

I used 1" spacing between the screws alternating the location.

After installing all the screws, I used some brake cleaner to remove the thread cutting oil from the suface. Then removeable thread lock was used to help seal the small space between the aluminum threads and the stainless steel screw.

The result was a professional looking repair that should adequately hold until I can replace the mast down the road. I've not seen any degradation in the repair after several races this year. If something does go wrong, I'll be sure to post back to this site.

2009 Projects

Here's a list of projects that I need to complete this spring before the racing starts:

• Finish epoxy work on inside of cabin and paint inside repairs of cabin
• Repair a small dimple on the front of my mast
• Take the steps to make Maybe drownproof
  
• Repair the side storage cabinets
  
• Polish the sides
• Burnish the Baltoplate bottom
  
• Get the boat remeasured for the areas possibly affected by the repairs (i.e. weight)
  
• Put together the rest of my crew for the season
  

These projects are also on my list but can afford to be done a latter time:

• Painting topside of deck with a non-slip finish
• Paint mast
  
• Replace halyards
  

Racing Crew Needed

Are you interested in sailing this summer on beautiful Lake Minnetonka and meeting new people and possibly making some new friends?

I'm looking for several people to join me in racing Maybe this year.

How about crewing for me this summer as part of a 5 "man" (yes, women are invited too) race team? Typical time on the water is less than 3 hours.

It's a great chance to get your feet wet, literally. Experience is not as important as a willingness to learn and follow directions. There's only room for one skipper on a boat :-) I'm always open to advice from more experienced sailors and suggestions from crew.

My plan is to sail at both in both Minnetonka Yacht Club's Open Fleet as well as Wayzata Yacht Club's J/24 Fleet. The possible days for racing are Wednesday and Thursday evenings as well as Saturday and possibly Sunday mornings. Racing runs from May through October.

If you think you can commit to one day a week and show-up on-time, I'd like to hear from you!

No, you don't have to race every possible day to be on this team. I'm expecting to have different crews for a given day. Face it, there is probably many other things going on in your life that also require your time.

Not much "special" equipment is required for racing on a lake that you wouldn't likely already have in the form of outwear for spring/fall and summer. If you're totally new to sailing, I'd be more than happy to provide you with a short list of recommended items. The cost is minimal and pay is even worse!

Let me tell you a few things about me as well as what I expect:

• Safety of my crew is my primary concern. Having fun so that my crew wants to be out on the water is a very close second.
  
• I enjoy sharing time on the water with friends and knocking back a few adult beverages after the racing is over. I expect my crew to show-up and race sober; after the racing is over, that's up to you. I'll provide the refreshments (including non-alcoholic). There's nothing to be ashamed of in not having a drink!
  
• I'm happily married to my wife, Liz, and am fairly easy to get along with. My work as a Program Manager at Sauer-Danfoss requires building relationships to get the job done!
• As a Christian, I try to live my life in such a way to that celebrates life in Jesus. Talking about religion and politics is a sparring sport so I usually avoid it, smile, and move on in spite of my passion. Nonetheless, I'm always open to sharing my faith story and enjoy hearing others' in the right setting. No, I don't thump the Bible and wag my finger in people's faces as that's not what Jesus did.
• Serving as an Assistant Scout Master in Troop 424 and an Assistant Coach for Tonka Football youth are a couple of my other activities that keep me busy with my kids.
  

Call me (Bryan) at 612.805.9244 and leave me a message. I'd like to hear from you!

Motor Heads

J/24 class rules require a 14 kg (30.9 lbs) minimum outboard (Section 3.8.8). I have an older 80s vintage Mercury 4 hp, 2 cylinder, long shaft (aka "gnat") that weighs 19 kg (42 lbs). It usually runs smooth and is quiet. However, lately I've had to always play the choke and throttle to simply keep it running.

It's a real pain to do all that juggling while trying to steer. I've tried fixing the carburator several times but I can't get the gas entering the bowl to shut-off. Eventually the Merc carb overflows with fuel and chokes itself. The needle valve shows no signs of wear but is probably hardened from age so it no longer seats properly to shut-off the fuel. I'll have to have my Dad give me a hand with when I get around to ordering replacement parts.

Since the Mercury gnat is "too heavy," I've been looking for a Nissan or Tohatsu 3.5 hp long shaft outboard for the past couple of months. These 2 stroke 3.5 hp motors just meet the minimum weight, while the new 4 stroke motors are heavier given the same power rating.

There doesn't seem to be many used long shaft engines out there now that 2 strokes are banned and those that I did run across were on the coasts. There are still a fair number of short shafts around. I finally ran across a Nissan long shaft on eBay in which the seller couldn't get it to run. I figured worst cast I was buying a long shaft conversion which was worth the $142 I paid for the engine.

Winter is a great time to work on projects that don't require a large heated garage or involve epoxy and paint. My oldest son helped me out on this project. The spark was good and there seemed to compression for such a small cylinder so our first task was to look into the carburator. Cleaning out a few fine bits of grit and reassemblying this very simple carb, my son helped put reassemble everything. I figured we had it licked.

Nearly pulling my arm out of joint from yanking so many times and my son laughing deliriously from the sideline, I gave up. If it hadn't been for few plumes of smoke and a couple "pops," I would have given up sooner. It was funny looking back and I'm glad my son helps me laugh at myself.

After buying a compression tester, my son and I were back at it. The Nissan only had 60 lbs of pressure which explained why the motor would try to fire occasionally but never start. So what was causing the lack of compression?


With my guidance, my son took off the four bolts to remove the head. The head gasket appeared to be leaking from corrosion "growing" between the water jacket in the head and the gasket probably due to not flushing out the salt water from the engine using a pail of fresh water like the manual explains.

As we were cleaning out the corrosion with a putty knife, all of a sudden a corner of the head popped off in my hand. The head was cracked under all that corrosion. The rest of the block looked fine. There were no scored walls on the piston and the rings were likely making a good seal provided the head could be replaced.

Doug Russell Marine has great prices on replacement outboard parts. Tohatsu rebadges their 3.5 hp outboards for Nissan, Mercury, and Johnson! The parts from a Johnson J3RTLSSR appeared to be the correct parts and are lower cost than Mercury. It was going to run me $65 for a new head and gasket. Not knowing if the rings were good or not, we may as well replace them too.

I ended up buying a Mercury 3.3 hp donor for $100 in order to simply replace the powerhead. The compression on this Mercury 3.3 was 120 lbs. Much better!

On a gorgeous 45° 31-Jan day, my son and I removed the mere six bolts, replaced the powerheads, and reassembled. Ready to give the engine a test again, it was now my son's turn to give to give the rope a yank. It was my turn to laugh. Two pulls later and the engine started right up! This Nissan 3.5 is certainly noisier than my old Mercury gnat, but my son and I think of it as our own little Harley, shaking handle and all! We both had huge smiles!

Once the weather gets warmer, my son and I will have to repaint the engine to give it a brand new look for Maybe (and Liz).