Returning Home

Joel David: "Just thought you would like to know as I just got a call that [der PeLiKan] is currently returning to her home port with her new mast installed. Expected arrival is approximately 8:30 tonight at Henderson’s. The long journey is coming to a close.

New Mast Installed

Commodore Nichols reported, "der PeLiKan's mast was installed at 2:10 PM on Friday, June 11. The first attempt last week was not successful as the old mast was oval, and the new mast is more egg shaped. The hole in the deck was enlarged by removing an aluminum ring that is used to secure the mast boot. This ring was cut and welded to fit the new mast and reinstalled. A soft epoxy called "sailtite" was used to fill the void between the mast and the deck. All the shrouds and backstays have been attached. What is left, is to install the roller-furling foresaty, and the triatic stay, and to tune the rigging. [These] should be completed on Monday, leaving us with an improved boat with modern features that the old mast did not have."

Another Change in Plan

Commodore Nichols: "The mast did not get installed today. It is now scheduled to be installed on Friday morning. If the mast is installed in the morning, we will take the boat back to Baltimore in the afternoon.

Ken [Kessler] power washed the deck to remove the Baltimore grime that accumulated over the winter. The boat now has a clean bottom and top! We also replaced the stanchion base that was damaged last week. Fawcett's had the two nylock nuts that we needed to complete the chain plate reinstallation, so they were installed today. I also have started flushing the fresh water tanks. The main tank and hot water tank flushing is complete, but the auxiliary tank is not quite finished."

Slight Change of Plan

Commodore Nichols: "I visited der PeLiKan and West River Rigging today. The rigger's assistant did not come to work today, so the mast was not installed. The new plan is to install the mast on Thursday. We will still plan to move the boat on Friday, but standby in case the mast installation schedule slips again...
The solution to problem of fitting the "square" mast into the "round" hole: There is an aluminum mast collar that provides a place to secure the mast boot. In the original design, this collar fits into the hole on the deck. By removing the collar, space is created to allow the mast to fit. The plan is to fill in the area with "Spartite", a product that will allow some mast movement, and will also provide a waterproof seal. A mast boot will also be used that will attach to a deck-mounted collar."

Chain Plates Inspected, Reinstalled

Commodore Nichols reported, "Yesterday, Ken [Kessler] and I removed the eight chain plates that connect the main mast shrouds to the hull. We cleaned and inspected each chain plate, and reinstalled them using 5200 as a sealant. We use nylock nuts on 22 of the 24 screws (West Marine only had 22 nylock nuts). Steve Alexander came by to install a new luff rope on the main sail.
The new sail slides that Steve installed have been tested on the mast, and should work better than the old ones.
The new mast step had been installed before the boat left Baltimore. Yesterday we performed a plumbob test to verify the
center of the mast partners to be the center of the mast step. The result seemed to indicate that the mast step is about a 1/4"aft, and about 3/8" to the port side of the partners. This small offset can be compensated by tuning the rigging.

der PeLiKan Delivered to the Rigging Site

Report from Joel David, "Steve and Ken arrived this afternoon with the boat. Short haul and inspection tomorrow and they are coming home for the night. They were working on the mast today at the shop and they have one more day to finish before installation on Thursday. They plan on leaving around 1400 on Friday. It would be customary to have a fire tug spraying a hose to welcome a grand ship home but in our case the best we can do is a garden hose from a dinghy.

The New Mast Arrived

Commodore Nichols visited Paul Langelier at West River Rigging. They unwrapped and inspected the new mast, which was next to the old mast, so they were able to compare the two. COM Nichols noted, "There are some differences in the method of construction. Most notable is the use of rivets for the external fittings. On the old mast, they were either welded or through bolted. The spreaders are attached to a bar that fits in the new mast. The old mast had welded fittings. A complete set of cleats has been provided." His photo to the right shows new mast on the right and old one next to it.

Good Luck!
The Commodore also informed readers that "it is considered good luck to put a coin at the base of the mast. The coin that I have selected was given to me at the North East Regional Bridge of Honor. It is a 2008 Australian dollar celebrating the 100th
anniversary of scouting."