The Boom Repair
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For a couple of years, I have wanted to start in on the rigging, inspecting and fixing everything that is wrong, mostly repairs required from years of use.
The boom is the start of this project. When I hauled the boat out this Fall, I removed the boom and brought it home. I started in on the project just before Christmas, and as of mid-January, I am done.
The work is described below.
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Here is the boom in the garage. Removing it from the boat really shows how bad the condition is. After examining, the plan becomes to disassemble, clean, paint, make new lines, and reassemble. Remove all sheave, cams, etc. and put in ziplock bags. You will need a spring clamp removal tool, as that is what is used on the cams. Every other location used E clamps.
New lines were used throughout. I used Samson 3/8" Ultra. A friend had a spool left over from a boat rigging exercise, and donated it to the cause.
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This close up of the gooseneck shows how the paint is gone from just about everywhere. One of the mechanical issues is that the reef cams function poorly. I checked with www.rigrite.com, and there is an upgrade kit, but it is expensive, about $140 per side. My plan is to make some corrections to the design and see how it works. If it doesn't, I can always buy the upgrade kit and install later.
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The screws were hoplessly frozen after 25 years in the elements. Disassembly required cutting off the heads of the screws and drilling out until they clear the boom sleeve. A job requiring a steady hand, be careful not to cut into the boom sleeve too much. For reassembly, I relocated the screw holes, drilled and retapped. If you have the patience and a good drill press, I imagine you could drill the screws out completely and put in larger screws in the original locations. Use short 1/2" screws so they don't go all the way through, as the new locations almost certainly will intefere with the lines.
The castings shown here are still in functional shape. I put a wire brush in the drill and cleanned them up in preparation for priming and three coats of gloss black.
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I stripped the mast with Bix spray stripper. It worked very fast and very well. Next, I buffed the entire surface with fine steel wool, and also used 220 grit sandpaper in badly corroded areas. Lastly, wipe down the entire mast with mineral spirits. This picture shows filling the old holes with aluminium filler, a difficult process in such thin material. I suggest waiting until reassembly and filling the holes then. However, it is a good time to fill and sand surface inperfections that you find annoying, such as the dent put in the boom when it hit my head last year. Just kidding. The boom would not have survived such a collision.
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Reassemble the boom, gooseneck and rear sheave block. Select locations for new screws. Make sure that you tape the gooseneck, rear block solidly into place before drilling. A small shift during drilling will mean that all the holes won't line up when you reassemble. Pull peices apart and drill out the new holes on the boom with a slightly larger drill. this will ease installation. Tap the new holes in the gooseneck and the rear block once they are out.
Prime with zinc cromate. The picture shows the primed boom. I went heavier with the primer than necessary, but still a thin coat. Thin is what is required, even a dusting will do, but...
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Time to paint the boom! I used a standard Rusteoleum grey spray, three light coats. Let dry for two days. I don't care what it says about 24 hours: it is too cold here. The prep work paid off, the boom looks nice! I used Rusteoleum gloss black on the gooseneck and rear sheave block.
I actually suspended the boom on wire from the garage rafters to paint it, not shown, becasue I forgot to take a picture. This allowd me to paint the entire boom at once, and left no marks.
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I greased and reinstalled all the sheaves. Surprisingly, they were in good shape, so I did not replace them.
Run the lines thru the rear block prior to assembly. Run an electricians snake thru and tape off. Pull thru slowly, and fasten the rear block assy when done.
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The outhaul assy was disconnected and jammed in the boom at some point in the past. It took some work to get it out. After inspeection and new line, I taped the line side as shown in the picture. The wire end is under my hand. This taping assures that metal loop on the end inside the boom is properly aligned at the gooseneck end. Slide the bolt thu and presto! it works.
Make sure you have enough line. I ended up shorter than I wanted, as I went by the length of line that was there. It must have been clipped at one time, as it does not allow the metal end to reach back as far towards the mast as I would like. I will probably do an inline splice to add about 5 feet when I reinstall the boom.
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The important thing to remember is not to get the lines crossed: keep the reef lines on their appropriate sides, and the outhaul line in the middle. Run thru the gooseneck and test to make sure the lines move freely.
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I went with rope the full length of the reef lines, and spliced eyes. I am saving the wire lines in case this fails in sea trials. The splice strength held my weight, which is substantial, and my only testing capability. I badly scratched the paint on the block when installing, and did a bad touch up job, though not nearly as bad as it looks in the photo: just some bouncing light. I will fix upon reinstallation. The top half of the traveller is reinstalled at this point as well.
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Now, on to the reef cam redesign. I played around with it at length, and tried to fathom the design. The spring that should keep the cam from flopping was not working, and the cam itself was difficult to set/release. Looking at the upgrade kit, I came up with two adjustments. The first is to improve the spring by putting an additional bend on the gooseneck side such that it can't pull out of the hole. this bend is shown in the photo. An untried fix is to shim the cam with washed such that it is tight, and therefore, not requiring a spring.
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Screws we tapped into the cam at an angle to provide an assist in setting and releasing. This idea was based on the cam design of the upgrade kit. Also notice the holes that were previously filled had popped out. in the next photo, they are filled. I will sand and touch up the paint when installed. Also notice the new screws are off center. This was in order to find enough meat in the gooseneck to tap. It could be done better i.e., line up better, but it is functional. The line should go over the sheave, not under as shown here.
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The screw is tapped at about a 25-30 degree angle so it clears the line and sheave. When the boom is put back on the boat, I may cut off the heads for additional clearance, and put some shrink wrap tubing on the bolt. Garage testing indicates that thes changes hold promise. We shall see when I try to reef. The cams are not self actuating, requirng a push to fully engage, but the modifications indicate a tighter fit. I may try to work on this at installation, as it should self-acuate. In actual sea trials, I may be left with broken cams and eyeless line! Well, I can always buy the upgrade kit, but that wouldn't be as much fun. Another option is to use friction cams mounted to the boom.
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Here is a shot of the boom with all new lines, ready to be wrapped until spring. I am happy with the project overall. Wrap all the pulleys in newspaper to prevent scratching the boom. I have saved touching up scratches and final adjustments until reinstalling.
The next component to come off wil lbe the bottom half of the traveller, which is still on the boat. Today, it is -10 degrees! I can't find my long sleeve tshirt that I usually wear in this weather, so I'll wait for some warmer weather.
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