converting from wire-rope halyard to all-rope

[Loren Beach]

Older technology.....

Since the system only allows for the posting of five pictures at a time, I'm sending this sixth one in a separate post. A close-up shot of the sheaves. Chips are evident.

Roscoe

These were common on thousands of smaller and mid size sailboats for sheaves in the 70's.
http://www.ifloat.biz/products/hye-...94-in-100-mm-0.63-in-16-mm-0.63-in-16-mm-4533
I found this one link.
Nowadays they have been replaced in the market with hi density plastics. They are very durable. Gibb (in the UK) used to sell a full line of blocks, cheeks and sheaves of this stuff, and even small snubbing winches.

There were pressure-formed from phenolic resin and linen, IIRC. Also used for circuit boards for electronic devices.

Loren

 

[mherrcat]

I think you'll definitely be better off with new sheaves and Zephyrworks can make them whatever diameter you need. Their website does address the problem you mentioned about the sheave width. They say that sometimes the interior dimension of the masthead has to be enlarged a little. Also while your mast is down look at refurbishing any other hardware attached, like lighting, windex, VHF antenna. I would especially consider running new wiring for lighting and possibly new VHF coax cable. I noticed that my coax cable doesn't look of very high quality. It works, but if I had installed it I think I would have used better quality cable.

 

[bigd14]

+1 for Zephyrwerks (http://www.zephyrwerks.com/). I had a very similar setup as you have. I removed the entire masthead and shipped it to them to be sure of the sheave diameters and told them what size line I would be using. They replaced the sheaves and the divider plate since a wire had jumped the tracks at some time in the past and cut the divider plate. They material they used for the divider plate looked similar to the original sheave and divider plate material. The new system works great!

 

[PDX]

These were common on thousands of smaller and mid size sailboats for sheaves in the 70's.
http://www.ifloat.biz/products/hye-...94-in-100-mm-0.63-in-16-mm-0.63-in-16-mm-4533
I found this one link.
Nowadays they have been replaced in the market with hi density plastics. They are very durable. Gibb (in the UK) used to sell a full line of blocks, cheeks and sheaves of this stuff, and even small snubbing winches.

There were pressure-formed from phenolic resin and linen, IIRC. Also used for circuit boards for electronic devices.

Loren

Every block on my boat (1968) was made of that stuff, including the fiddle assembly on the main sheet. They definitely are durable, but you better eat your wheaties if you're going to pull lines through them.

 

[davisr]

I'd never heard of this phenolic resin/linen mixture before. Sounds like Zephyrwerks is an excellent (and affordable) way to replace yesterday's high tech sheaves, so thanks for these votes of confidence. On the subject of addressing other masthead issues while the stick is down, I can't help but ask BigD if he took a Dremel to that masthead to remove the old, chipped paint. It looks real sharp.

Thanks,
Roscoe

 

[bigd14]

Hey Roscoe- No Dremel was needed, thankfully the masthead was bare (and it looks better in the photo than in person!). I did have to take it to a machine shop for them to increase the forestay and backstay holes to 5/16 to fit my new rigging, though. The old ones were kind of mangled by loose fitting pins. Zephyrwerks was able to reuse the axle pins for the sheaves.

Doug

 

[davisr]

I spoke with Ed Louchard at Zephyrwerks last week. Seemed like a good guy with a good product. Following the lead of Doug (Big D), I brought up the issue of putting the masthead in the mail. Ed said that this would not be a problem and that the return shipping would not cost that much more than what the shipping for the replacement sheaves would be in the first place. I was quite pleased by the reasonable shipping price he quoted me. Therefore, I took out my rubber mallet and slowly removed the masthead from its snug fitting within the mast itself.

I thought that, for the benefit of E25 and E27 owners who might make take these steps in the future, I would post a few pictures of the process. I should note that I was surprised to find that the interior of the masthead sleeve was stamped "Ericson 25." Seth (in Chicago) mentioned to me about a month ago in an email that Ericson made many of its own spars on site. I wonder if this stamp means that this mast and masthead were made on site.

At any rate, off goes my Ericson 25 masthead to Washington state tomorrow (by insured carrier)

Regards,
Roscoe

 

[davisr]

I thought everyone would appreciate an update on this project. Ed Louchard at Zephyrwerks did a fine job. He made the sheaves and had everything back in the mail quickly once my package made it out there to Port Townsend. A couple of pictures are attached.

I'm thinking that while I have the masthead off the mast, I might just go ahead and pretty it up a little bit by hitting it with some Rustoleum, High Performance Enamel (Flat Black). Any opinons on the use of this paint for this purpose?

Thanks,
Roscoe

 

[exoduse35]

flat black will quickly turn a chalky grey color. Also it will not stick well long term without doing the prep work. I would have it sand blasted prime with Zinc Chromate, and then paint with a gloss (maybe with a flattener) or semi gloss paint. Edd

 

[davisr]

I thought it through, and ended up following Edd's advice, as much as possible.

Picture 1:

Not having access to a sandblaster, I hit my masthead with a set of Dremel sanding wheels, and I also hit it by hand with 80 grit paper. The latter technique proved especially helpful in removing some of the old metallic/sandy grit that was left over from the casting that had been done back in the 1970s. This grit was robustly present on the interior of the masthead, just where you would want it not to be, since the said grit would be a major source of friction and chafing on the sheaves. In the picture below, this grit is clearly present. I took this picture at about the half-way point. If I had taken a picture at the start, you would have seen the circular wear-marks left behind from the old sheaves. Essentially, every time the PO was hauling away on the halyards, he was sanding the sides of his sheaves against the masthead wall.

Picture 2:

I made a point of sanding the rough edges of the masthead, especially those rough edges, fore and aft, where the new 3/8 inch halyards will exit. Yes, Ed Louchard at Zephyrwerks sized the new Delrin sheaves for 3/8 halyards. There had been some discussion about this earlier in the thread. Glad that Ed made 3/8 inch work.

Picture 3:

Masthead prior to priming. I scrubbed it thoroughly with a nylon brush and TSP dissolved in a bucket of hot water. This removed a lot of nastiness from it. The bucket was filthy by the time I was finished.

Picture 4:

Masthead with Zinc Chromate primer. I read somewhere online that they first started using this extensively in WWII for the painting of aircraft. Made sure to wear the respirator and face shield while spraying this stuff. Not interested in finding polyps on the lungs ten years from now.

Picture 5

I avoided the flat black paint, as suggested by Edd. I looked around at pictures of other mastheads. It appears that the OEM finish was some sort of gray, sort of like the gray in Doug's (BigD's) picture. The closest match I could find in the Rustoleum line was their Aluminum color, which is a little more silvery and glossy in appearance when compared to the gray. At any rate, it's an improvement over what I started with - chipped and faded black paint over the OEM gray.


Regards,
Roscoe

 

[exoduse35]

Looks Damn good! can't wait to see the picture of it WAY up there atop the mast!

 

[Andrew Means]

This is a fascinating discussion as it's something I've been considering (looking do the same with my wire/rope halyard). What do you guys think my options are if un-stepping the mast isn't an option (and obviously I can't hoist myself up on the halyards). Run another line up there with a block at the top and then go up on that rope? How bad for the rope are we talking about if I do 5/16ths for the halyard?

 

[davisr]

Hey Andrew,

My thinking, based on the suggestions I received and the various publications I read, was that a conversion to all-rope halyards was not complete without a conversion to the appropriately shaped sheaves. A 5/16 inch halyard on the old V-shaped sheaves probably would have worked, but it probably would not have had as long a life as it could have had with the right sheaves. Maybe you could just approach your present project this way, and later, whenever you next happen to drop the mast, you could do the complete transformation. Just my thoughts.

Regards,
Roscoe

 

[markvone]

Andrew,

Do you just need to do halyards or are there other mast items that need to be repaired or replaced? Can you wait on the halyards until you can un-step and do everything? How long has it been since your mast was down and the rig inspected? Is it time to bite the bullet and check it all out?

If you google climb mast site:sailnet.com you will see all the challenges and safety aspects of climbing a standing mast solo or with help

The work you can do at the masthead is pretty limited.

Here is what I did to my mast since I had it down and apart when it came off the truck. I had not planned on much more than inspection by the local rigger during re-assembly, but items will need to replaced as a result of the inspection. Doing the upgrades at the same time made sense and saved me an un-stepping in the future.

My 1981 mast was totally disassembled for shipping when it arrived in Annapolis. It came from Santa Barbara, CA and the pile of dust in the mast step was 1 inch deep. The rig had been up for a VERY long time, certainly through the previous owners 16 years and everything was original. I could write my name in the chaulky black paint on the spar. I decided to replace all 4 aluminum v-groove masthead sheeves while they were being inspected and the axles lubed. I replaced the wire/rope halyards with all rope and new shackles. I replaced the 30 year old masthead tri-color, anchor light, vhf antenna, windex and the mid mast light and all three cables and connectors even though all these were working.

The rigger pulled a few unused stainless bits off the masthead so they wouldn't corrode as well as a non-working masthead wind instrument. He also replaced the masthead toggle for the backstay which looked suspect. I needed lower spreader tips as they were corroded from contact with the stainless rod. The rod rigging was inspected and the end fittings lubed and all was deemed OK. I replaced 6 Navtec turnbuckle screws and all the clevis pins for the shrouds at deck level. I had the backstay hydraulic cylinder rebuilt as it was leaking from the top seal. I powder coated the maststep which had the paint all flaked off. I spent 4 LONG days in the hot July sun compounding and waxing 53 feet of black painted mast and spreaders.

It took six weeks to get all the work done, then 3 more weeks of hurricane IRENE and TS LEE rain before I could get re-stepped. Everything is back together and the boat has been out sailing a couple of times. The spar looks really nice so I won't have to consider painting it any time soon which was a total bonus and pretty much pays for all the work that was done. All the lights work and the masthead/anchor light is a modern LED with a photosensor. I lost all the meat hooks and stuck shackles from the old halyards. I feel MUCH better knowing that the 30 year spar has been inspected and there are no lurking problems that could cause a rig failure.

Mark

 

[Andrew Means]

Thanks Roscoe & Mark - I've been up to the masthead a couple times on the main halyard to check things out and to install a wind indicator, and everything looks (to my completely untrained eye) like it's okay. I've been poking around trying to find a good rigger to give the boat a once over but haven't hired anybody yet. How much would it cost to un-step the mast? Obviously we'd probably need a crane or something for our mast. Hmm - maybe the compromise is to have a spliced wire/rope setup - probably would be the cheapest/easiest thing, and the wire would probably only come down through the first block... I'll do some more thinking about it.

 

[exoduse35]

unstepping the mast is relatively cheep at any marine yard. If you do most of the stripping yourself... the boom, sails shrouds etc. they only charge a couple hundred dollars. The real money is in all the stuff you find when you can see it up close without the fear of falling!

 

[markvone]

Andrew,

One of our Seattle area vikings can certainly supply the name of a smaller marina with a good repuatation that will pull your mast and lay it down on saw horses for you to work on. You will get hit with a minimum crane fee (an hour or 1/2 hr) plus operator and then labor for 2 or 3 guys. In Annapolis, at my marina (Port Annapolis) this would be $190/hr crane, tech labor $85/hr plus 2-3 riggers $90/hr for each. My keel stepped mast is 53 feet long and if I strip everything myself that does not hold the mast up and all the electrical connections it will be done in an hour (less but I'll get charged the full hour). Figure around $550 for me each way, in Annapolis, which is very expensive. I'd bet you could do it for half or less of that with the E27 deck stepped mast and a reasonable yard.

The key is to remove everything yourself (for free) so that the yard just has to hook up the crane, disconnect the shrouds and drop the stick, time is money for them. Also mark all your turnbuckle bolts so that you can re-assemble with minimum re-tuning. Only have the yard pick up the stick and make it stand up on the re-step.

Once your mast is down, having a plan for all your work will minimize your time off the water. Halyards, sheeves, wiring and lights, instrument repairs or upgrades, paint and touchups are all much easier with the mast down. Maybe have a rigger look over the standing rigging and anything you are not familiar with? You will probably never have to do it again. ALSO, document the work with some pictures and notes you can use whenever you decide to sell.

Mark

 

[davisr]

Andrew,

Another alternative, given that you have an E27, is to build a mast-stepping A-Frame. Total cost for materials is about $120. I learned about this from fellow E25 owner, Rob Hessenius. He's built one, and I have too. Here's a video of a Catalina 27 owner using one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFhnYQmRYs

Roscoe

 

[Loren Beach]

Andrew,

Another alternative, given that you have an E27, is to build a mast-stepping A-Frame. Total cost for materials is about $120. I learned about this from fellow E25 owner, Rob Hessenius. He's built one, and I have too. Here's a video of a Catalina 27 owner using one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFhnYQmRYs

Roscoe

FWIW, Our prior 26' boat had a very tall mast (about 34' with no taper) and I could lower it with the spinnaker pole rigged as a gin pole. It was on pivot base and lowered aft. I took two of us, and lifting the whole rig while standing on the stern laz and then ooching it forward, bit by bit, was strenuous work. I did that evolution twice in the decade I owned that boat. Lowering the rig was really the only practical way to do the whole re-wiring project for the mast.
The main lowering line from the end of the pole was led back thu some snatch blocks to a primary winch.
Temporary stays from the pole end to each side and from the spar to each side had to adjusted constantly as the mast came down and later went back up.

Loren

 

[BaySailor]

Removing the masthead sheaves.

How will I go about removing the stainless pins that the sheaves rotate around? I hope to do this without dropping the mast, maybe dockside using a boom truck.
From the pictures they seem to have a round head on both ends.