PROGRESS -ALL FORWARD

Ocean View Marina
Samal Island, Davao
Mindanao, Philippines

We got an early start Monday morning. We hoped all was ready for the removal of the mast. We had fellow yachties to help. Rob of Summer Wind, Lorenzo of Flaneur and Kevin of Moonrise. The yard boys were busy with the launching of another boat. First on the list was several checks by our helpers that Kathy and I had gotten things such as the electrical disconnected, turnbuckles loosened, cotter pins pulled etc.. It's always good to have lots of checks before moving on. As I have said this was a new experience for Kathy and I.  

Before the crane arrived on scene I made a trip up the mast to remove the stay sail furler, Just an additional piece of rigging not to have to worry about. The crane was here in the yard and the operator was here about 0845. Once the crane was moved off our bow it was another trip up the mast to attach the lifting sling. Under the direction of Rob who has had quite a bit of experience doing this I got the sling in the proper location along with lines also running down to the mast base and we were ready to take up tension on the sling and then release all the shrouds. Once the shrouds and stays were undone the crane applied a little upward lift and the mast popped up twelve inches just like a champagne cork. A check was made below for any problems. All the loose wires were tied to the mast and then up it went. The mast was on the ground and we were done with the crane by 0930.
The cost for the crane and operator was about $135 US.

ALL BALANCED AND HANGING STRAIGHT DOWN

LORENZO WITH THE TAG LINE

CRANE OPERATOR

    Next the mast was set down for removal of the spreaders and wires before moving to the area where all the hardware could be taken off before it's painting.

KATHY AND ROB LOOKING THINGS OVER

READY TO BE MOVED TO THE SHOP AREA

It was a long day by the time the wire and spreaders were removed and the mast was laid up in a shady spot for the continued work of removing all the parts before painting. Prior to removing all the hardware for painting I went from top to bottom taking photos of everything and writing a list in my note pad. Next we did a video top to bottom so everything can go back in the proper place

ALL THIS COMES OFF TO PAINT

MAST TOP

MY NOTEPAD AS I WROTE DOWN WHERE ITEMS WERE

BY SATURDAY TA-TA HAS MOST EVERYTHING REMOVED

 The rest of the week continued with forward progress. Tuesday I continued on the heavy grinding off of the bottom paint. Wednesday I had a helper Do-Do to sand with the small orbital sander and #80 paper. Wednesday Do-Do was joined by Yo-Yo sanding away.It seems most of the Filipinos come with various nicknames that make little sense but both turned out to be hard workers, especially when told for hard work they would receive a 100 peso bonus at the end of the day. That's substantial when their wages are 350 pesos a day. I finished the heavy grinding on Friday afternoon and the Boys have only a small bit of sanding to finish up tomorrow.

CLEAN TO THE GEL COAT

Other things were also accomplished during the week. Kathy had a Filipina helper Bing, come and clean out a very dirty mast step and bilge area

THE MAST SITS ON THIS

A STORAGE BOX FOR ALL THE BITS AND PIECES

Tomorrow starts a new week. I will be off to Davao to buy some supplies as Kathy supervises the Boys and once again has Bing here to clean. The thing we are most looking forward to is giving the boat a proper wash and riding ourselves of all the grinding dust.

The work list for the upcoming week has the Boys sanding the mast and boom as I start on seacock rebuilding and thru hull removal. Kathy will supervise and keep everything moving forward.