March 28, 2018
Jasmine 72
Wednesday
Taking advantage of better-than-expected weather, and with a less-than-optimistic temperature forecast for most of April, I moved Jasmine’s main mast from its storage area over to the other side of the building and near the boat, where I had more convenient access. I had just a few small tasks to complete on the spar, beginning with the final installation of the masthead light assembly. I secured my new mounting platform to the masthead with a screw through one of the original strap bolt holes, then secured the aluminum light fixture with three machine screws into the holes I’d already prepared. I secured the wiring with a rubber-lined clamp that I attached to another of the masthead strap bolts.
With a drum sander, I pared down the plastic wiring fitting at the base of the mast till I could slide on the 1-1/8″ hose I’d purchased as a conduit. This hose could be cut to the proper length later for routing the wires from the mast through the deck and into the head for connection.
Next, I started the installation of a lazy-jack system, a retractable and simple system I’d been using for many years. On. each side of the mast, a few feet above the spreaders, I installed a small cheek block for the main control lines, using two machine screws in tapped holes, all protected with Tef-Gel. I ran a continuous line through these blocks and through another block on the front side of the mast, from which I then led a tension line down towards the mast base. This arrangement formed the main part of the system and allowed easy tensioning and retraction of the jacks if desired. It’s a difficult system to photograph and works more easily than I can describe it, though I’ve done so in various other project logs in past years.
By now, it was late in the day, and I left the remaining lazy jack installation–all on the boom itself–for another time. I’d also repeat the installation on the mizzen mast another time.
Total time billed on this job today: 2 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 32°, cloudy. Forecast for the day: Rain or snow shower, then mainly cloudy, 40s (it ended up being sunny and mid-50s during the afternoon)