Up a Creek

With the Erie Canal behind us, we got our first taste of working on boats in strange places with limited resources. Stepping the mast and returning Elysium to cruising status was the order of the day, er... week. 1st up was running the new VHF cable. In and of itself, this could have been a challenge, as the cable we wanted to run was larger in diameter than the old one. With our mast, we expected more problems, because a previous owner had put some kind of sealant in the conduit at the base of the mast. The first step would be removing this. It was in conduit about 7' from the base of the mast. We waited a day for rain and then made a trip to Lowe's for a large piece of rebar. The plan was to attach the rebar to a drill, insert it up the conduit and drill it out. Unfortunately, the mast was sitting with the base too close to another boat and we had to wait another day for workers to help us move the mast. We estimate our mast weighs around 1000lbs, or more, so this required machinery. Once this was done, it became clear that the rebar was too large to fit in the hole. Nick went back and forth to Lowe's on foot, a 2 mile journey on foot, carrying and returning rebar until we had just the correct piece to fit in the hole and reach the blockage. Our friend, Dan, who we had met in the canal and have been buddy boatung with, was super helpful during the whole evolution and we are so appreciative of his support and assistance! Nick used a grinder to make the end of the rebar small enough to fit in the drill bit and drilled out a large chunk of the blockage (we think it was 4000). Once that was done, we were able to use a fishe to run a messenger line through the conduit, and after applying lube (Dawn dish soap) to the cable, the guys were able to feed it through! Nick fabricated the connections at the top and bottom of the mast and we were on to the next phase.

The next day we were able to get started stepping the mast. What a process. First was the transfer of the mast from land to creek, which was done, Huckleberry Finn style, from the crane ashore to a detached floating dock in the water. During this process, our masthead instruments suffered some damage, but we didn't wouldn't know how bad that was before hooking things up. The floating dock was hooked up right next to E, and a crane picked it up, while the guys positioned it to be lowered into the boat. We had a bit of trouble positioning her properly, and I realized it was in the wrong spot when I was able to leave my job of holding the baby stay furler out of the way and go below. It was late in the day and everyone took a break for lunch. Once we reconvened, we were able to position the mast properly. Next is to connect the shrouds and stays, which are thick wires that hold up the mast. We had a tough time getting the backstay connected and realized there were a few issues which Nick went aloft for to fix. As I was holding the lines in my hands that held him safely aloft, I did not get any photos of that. Safety first!