Hi, All.
I completed my Mill Creek 16.5 over the summer and am now beginning to work on a lug rig sail for it. I intend to follow CLC’s plans for their simple rudder and leeboard set up and am making my own 40 sqft four sided sail. My question for the crowd is, does anyone have advice on making a 10 ft mast and associated spars out of douglas fir. I have researched mast making and found solid mast guides as well as bird’s mouth hollow masts (looks like fun and less weight up top, but a lot more work). I am curious if anyone else has made their own spars for an un-ama’ed Mill Creek 16.5 or if there is any advice before I go an purchase lumber (I’ve already purchased a sail kit, so that decision is made). Thanks for any help, ideas, tips, guides, whatever, you can provide.
If you’re making a square/rectangular cross section it’s pretty easy to make it hollow without all the work of a birdsmouth. If it’s a balanced lug the mast does not need to rotate so it doesn’t have to be round.
I’ve made masts out of 1x DIY store new Zealand radiata pine. No knots, clear grain and pricier than normal construction lumber. To make a hollow mast, get 4 pieces to make a long box. Glue up 3 sides. Put wooden reinforcements to fill the central channel at the top, bottom and where the mast partner will be. If you’re going to have through-bolted fittings, reinforce there, too. I’d make the top and bottom reinforcements at least 4" long and the mast partner reinforcement at least 6" centered on the mast partner. Then glue on the final side. The actual thickness of the wood is 3/4", so for a 3" square mast you’d have a 1.5" hollow channel.
When I build that kind of mast I use Titebond III wood glue. It’s waterproof and more convenient than epoxy. Once the mast is complete, I coat it with epoxy to make it waterproof. For a real first class job, I cover it with a 4 in light biaxial fiberglass sleeve (available from Soller Composites) for increased durability and waterproofing. It also gives a bit more strength, but that’s not so important because of the strength of the wood. Finish it just like any other glassed wooden surface - fill the weave, varnish or paint it. Don’t forget to round the edges and to seal the top and bottom with glass and epoxy.
This kind of mast will last as long as your boat. At 10 feet long it’s easy to handle and store. And if your boat goes over, it will provide flotation that will prevent a complete flip in anything under hurricane conditions.
Have fun,
Laszlo
Thanks, Laszlo. While I like the idea of trying something a little more complicated to practice my novice woodworking skills, I think your ideas are probably the most practical. I think the mast for Hyvit Skygge is of the same construction, albeit taller! I am planning on just a scaled down version of the same rig for the Mill Creek.
John
Yes, that’s definitely the same general pattern as the Faering Cruiser mast. It’s also what I used for my Brand X dinghy’s wooden spare mast, though there I rounded the lower portion so it could rotate. It’s lasted at least 12 years, so even DIY store lumber works for small boats.
You can try a little bit of woodworker creativity without undue effort, like tapering the mast. These little low-stress sailrigs are great fun for experimentation.
In the meantime, have you camped out on the water yet?
Laszlo
Yes! I have camped on the White Shadow! My grand niece and I took her on an overnight in July out of Penn Cove, WA, up into Skagit Bay near LaConner, WA. We ended up anchoring overnight off the easternmost spit of land on the Navy Seaplane base with a couple of other boats, including a tribal marine research vessel. The conditions allowed us to sail with and without a reef, and do a little bit of necessary rowing. It was a great mini-adventure. I’ll attach a picture or two later.
These probably belong in their own thread - the Faering Cruiser thread. But here goes.
Using my tiller extension; the original tiller that passes through the cockpit broke, so I went with a seven foot long tiller attached directly to the rudder; works great. Then, making breakfast off the easternmost spit of the Navy Seaplane Base; then pulling my way back to Coupeville until the wind picked back up. It was an amazing, albeit short, experience with my favorite niece.
That looks like fun. I never tried cooking on the benches, I always had cold meals (only went camping on warm days). I’d imagine that the direct connection to the rudder might be more responsive since you wouldn’t have all the blocks and wire to induce lag. It would also make swapping between a beaching rudder and a sailing rudder easier.
It’s good to see that the boat went to a good home.
Laszlo
