What to Do ?!

[Dennis.G]

With spruce mast in tropics you really want to paint them white. Varnish or Cetol will need much ongoing work, and for what advantage? If you kept boat further North it might be worth the work to have nice looking stick, but in tropics you will soon wish you had painted instead when boat was laid-up and it was easily done.

This is spoken from years of owning a prior boat with a varnished spruce mast in San Diego. Lot's of hours hanging from the mast - gets old quick.

[lorenzo b]

Boatyard is the way to go. Before you even start to do boat work in a residential neighborhood you might want to check with the EPA and State health people and all your neighbors. You could get all set up in your yard at some expense and end up with a ten thousand dollar fine and pissed off neighbors. Would you like to live next door to someone redoing their bottom?
Even in a boatyard tempers can flair. I was next to a sailboat for a month while he ground off his bottom and the dust and dirt were horrendous. then the jerk insisted the whole boatyard shut down so he could get that perfect finish. Typical sailor, spends days varnishing a little strip of wood on his deck and then dumps his sewage in the water rather than walk to the bathroom on land.

[imagine2frolic]

Originally Posted by Phisher

My plan is to take off in October of 2012 I am in the process of selling things to finance the upgrades/improvements. My cruising kitty is safe and sound and growing monthly, I don't want to touch it. So I am trying to save money any way possible and I am a cheap bastard! If I can do it why pay someone and I have had bad experiences with boat mechanics in the past.

May be we're twins

If you're going to pull the mast. Look into the other end of the facility at Reynold's Park Yacht Center. Talk to Capt. Dave Peden, and see what can be worked out.......i2f