Ever since I bought our ODay 31 five years ago, The halyards, outhaul and reef lines have been difficult to pull. I assumed that someone had carelessly put them in the spars and they were tangled around each other causing friction.
So last winter I had the mast pulled and I took the boom home to disassemble it in my garage. What I found was a incredible amount of bird nest materials ( marsh grass, plastic, string, rag strips and mud). You couldn’t see from one end to the other. I removed the outhaul and reef lines and washed the crud out of them. Then I washed out the inside of the boom. Upon reassembly, I made and installed an aluminum plate to cover the hole in the end of the boom to stop birds from entering again. I just drilled a few holes and used the same rivets that I needed to reassemble the boom ends.
At the boatyard, I removed the halyards and wiring the pressure blasted the mast clean. This took about ten passes with a high pressure washer to blow out all the bird nest stuff. To do this, I first forced an electrician’s ”fish tape” through the mast which wasn’t easy. Then I used electrician’s pull string(very strong) by attaching it to the fish tape and pulling it through the mast. Finally, I tied used the string to pull a pressure washer nozzle on a high pressure hose through the 40’ mast. Then I’d pull the hose back through and repeat. Again, an incredible amount of debris was washed out. I washed one halyard, replaced another and pulled them along with new wire for the lights, antenna and wind instrument transducer.
The sails were easy to handle this summer so it was well worth the effort!
I was careful to keep the open ends of the mast covered until it was reassembled and re-stepped. I can only imagine that before I owned this boat, the mast and boom were left open leaving a popular hotel space for birds. If you are in your boatyard this winter, observe the birds flying in and out of open spars and do your fellow boaters a favor by blocking the openings.
So last winter I had the mast pulled and I took the boom home to disassemble it in my garage. What I found was a incredible amount of bird nest materials ( marsh grass, plastic, string, rag strips and mud). You couldn’t see from one end to the other. I removed the outhaul and reef lines and washed the crud out of them. Then I washed out the inside of the boom. Upon reassembly, I made and installed an aluminum plate to cover the hole in the end of the boom to stop birds from entering again. I just drilled a few holes and used the same rivets that I needed to reassemble the boom ends.
At the boatyard, I removed the halyards and wiring the pressure blasted the mast clean. This took about ten passes with a high pressure washer to blow out all the bird nest stuff. To do this, I first forced an electrician’s ”fish tape” through the mast which wasn’t easy. Then I used electrician’s pull string(very strong) by attaching it to the fish tape and pulling it through the mast. Finally, I tied used the string to pull a pressure washer nozzle on a high pressure hose through the 40’ mast. Then I’d pull the hose back through and repeat. Again, an incredible amount of debris was washed out. I washed one halyard, replaced another and pulled them along with new wire for the lights, antenna and wind instrument transducer.
The sails were easy to handle this summer so it was well worth the effort!
I was careful to keep the open ends of the mast covered until it was reassembled and re-stepped. I can only imagine that before I owned this boat, the mast and boom were left open leaving a popular hotel space for birds. If you are in your boatyard this winter, observe the birds flying in and out of open spars and do your fellow boaters a favor by blocking the openings.