Outdoor wooden mast storage

[Paulus]

I have no option but to store my sitka spruce masts outside this winter, on a mast rack.

some say cover them/wrap them, others say this will seal in moisture and rub the finish...

they are in perfect shape with fresh coats of Epiphases applied this past spring, which will be repeated next spring... after another light sanding.

What does this learned group suggest?

[Hirilondë]

The biggest problem for finished wood is ultra-violet light. I would want them under cover. A tent or roof over the rack would be ideal. The problem with wrapping them isn't so much moisture as it is lack of air. Does the spar rack have a roof over it?

[Jeremy]

I made a loose Tyvek "envelope" for my spruce mast last winter, which seemed to work well. As I understand it, Tyvek can pass water vapor but not liquid water. I also cut a couple slits on the bottommost hanging portion of the envelope so that any water that managed to find its way inside would drain out.

[Paulus]

Rack does not have a cover over it, though there are so many other masts stored there - two racks, about 10 ft tall each, with masts on both sides of the verticals, I'd say about two dozen of them, so very little UV will reach my masts, which are on the second to bottom rung.

I thought about housewrap too - it is supposed to let moisture through but protect from direct falling rain/snow. My issue is rubbing - having seen the violence even a plastic bag can conjure up in a stiff breeze, I wonder what a sheet of Tivec could do in 40kts (I am right at the waterfront, exposed to NE)

[Hirilondë]

The house wrap idea is interesting. It does do what is says it does concerning water and moisture. But then so is the concern for abrasion. The rain isn't much of an issue, but snow and ice on a horizontal mast are. If you have a drain in the bottom of the mast I would certainly cover/wrap that. I think I would wrap the butt of the mast in plastic to protect the drain hole from water and moisture and wrap the mast in Tyvek, Typar or similar product. Tape it tight to reduce abrasion but make sure not to cover too much of it and hinder the moisture release. I might even consider unwrapping and rewrapping mid winter as an inspection/precaution. I would then look for a better place to store it next year. I wish there was a great answer for you situation but I sure can't think of one.

[Quetzalsailor]

I had a similar problem a number of years ago for storing my 26' long wood Flying Dutchman mast. We lived in a 20' wide row house and there was no space within the house for such an object. Happily, and with our neighbor's permission, I was able to hang the mast under the open wood decks that spanned across behind every pair of houses. This is the good part: I screwed lengths of PVC gutter upside down to the underside of the deck joists. I arranged hooks and screw eyes on either side of the gutter, equipped with short lengths of line. And then I tied the mast up into/under the gutter. Worked well and, as the mast weighs about 20 lbs, it was pretty fast and easy.

I arranged to make what my friends call my "ring of fire" to cover the toe rails of Quetzal. This is a continuous length of strips of tarp, ballasted with garden hose and tied along the sheer every winter to keep the sun off the varnish. It's an utterly 'brilliant' idea that has failed miserably. It works very badly; it traps water along the toe rails and they look worse in the spring. Lesson: beware trapping water against varnished or Cetol-ed surfaces. Ditto covering the Cetol-ed hatch covers directly with tarps.

[Paulus]

I have room to store them indoors at my house as well as a friends house who has a huge carriage building attached.

The problem is getting them there - the main is 35ft and the mizzen 27 ft.

I know of ways to do so, but the trouble and cost involved I don't think offer a better option than to manage/maintain them on the rack.

I am going to give Tyvec another thought.

[Rachel]

I wonder if some sort of Tyvek/fleece combination could be an option? Of course open air is best, but fleece is super non-abrasiony, and doesn't tend to try to absorb water since it's synthetic. You can get the lesser-quality fleece cheaply at -Mart type stores (which should be adequate). Something like $5 per yard and it's fairly wide (say, around 50").

[Tallystick]

Would simply wrapping it in aluminum foil work? That would protect from the sun, and you could leave small gaps in the wrap on the underside to allow water to escape.

[Hirilondë]

Would simply wrapping it in aluminum foil work? That would protect from the sun, and you could leave small gaps in the wrap on the underside to allow water to escape.

I find with the storage of anything made of wood that more than the water or moisture itself, the lack of air is the issue. Trapped moisture and no air leads to several problems. I would worry that the small openings in the bottom would not be sufficient ventilation. If you could build a cover that left the whole under side open, remain in place during winds and not move around so much as to damage the mast you would really have something.

[Paulus]

I will take a picture of the setup on Saturday (might be snow covered... brrrr) - you will see that there is some kind of cover already - through the sheeer number of masts stored above it.. I do realize it will see lots of dripping, but no real direct sun.

[Tom Young]

I sure don't like the idea of housewraps or anything close to the spar. The housewrap weeps moisture through and holds it tight to the wood.

I'll try to find a photo but I have a pretty simple system for my 50' main mast that's been tested for over 10 years. It won't work on the rack you're using, but if you move the spars to a better spot, it's not a big deal.

I use 3 saw horses, one close to the weight center, the others out about 18' to 20' or so. We move the stick ourselves (see pic) on a 2 wheel dolly. Once on the horses, layed on it's side, padded, I build a simple frame. 3 16' 2x4"s along each side, out 6" or so frame the spar, on edge. Use construction screws(they're reusable and the best thing building invented in years) to attach to horses and the butts which do not have to land on the horses.

Lay 3 more 16' 2x4's(of course you don't need nearly as much length) on top of the spar. About every 12' of so, run a strap of anything, old rope, fiber packing strapping, whatever, from your side 2xs, over the center laying on top, and catch the other one. This is merely to hold the rickety thing together for now.

Pad any joints on the "ridge" you've now put on top. For spreader brackets or winches, you may skip some ridge sections, or go over the top. It's not too demanding of accuracy.

With frame complete, take a new roll of 15 pound cheap roofing felt, and roll it along the ridge. Let it roll off the end.

Now, with 1x3" strapping, run a batten down each out 2x and sandwich the felt between the strap and it. Screw every 4' or so. On the ends, do a Christmas :) package wrap, and srew a srap over. The strapping/2x4's and the felt lock it all together. Now you could stand on it.

No felt touches the spar, it's wide open of the bottom, snow can pile up, gravity will keep most off.

I'll guess it takes me about 2 hours to do this for the 50'. My mizzen goes in the garage.
I save the wood but unfortuntely the felt has to be disposed of. I don't like that but until I find an alternative...It's cheap, you could get 2 lengths out of a roll.

The wood stays dry and breathes all winter as it would in a proper spar shed.

It's a big thing, this spar, but it's part of the family and well loved.

[Paulus]

Excellent post, Tom - you are re-invigorating my desire to do it right… I may just re-install the frame system I had last year and store the masts on the boat under the 40 x 40 tarp. It worked well keeping all the elements off the finish while also providing a workshed for the boat…

Basically consists of two 4x4’s that sit in the mast steps (mine are deck stepped) with a cross member (4x4) cross-halve jointed about 3ft off the deck – then a bridle joint carved out of each top of the standing 4x4 where a 2x4 fits in, which runs the length of the deck and over which the tarp fits. This “tent” sits about 5 to 6 ft above the deck and keeps the boat and thereby the masts, dry.

The horizontal ends of the 4x4 cross members are tied to the chainplates with ratchet straps – making for a very sturdy arrangement.

The only hesitation I have is the windage this set-up creates and my new location being on the water’s edge, wide open to the NE. Perhaps if I add another set of ratchet straps to the tops of the poles and one mid-ship on the rafter, this would be sturdy enough to take some serious wind.

Thanks for the detailed response – I agree, that whatever effort is expended now, will be generously paid back later in longevity and less work sanding and varnishing.

Funny thing is, when I discuss this with most anyone at the club, their standard answer seems to be “just get aluminum spars”… Oh well.

[Hirilondë]

I sure don't like the idea of housewraps or anything close to the spar. The housewrap weeps moisture through and holds it tight to the wood.

Only if you put it on inside out. It is working well on untold thousands of houses right up against the sheathing.

That being said I still don't like the idea of an outdoor rack without a roof at all really. But Paulus seemed resigned to that storage method at least for this winter.

[Rachel]

Let me add my thanks, Tom, for your good advice, details, and photo. Even though I made a suggestion for covering the mast (for some fleece under the housewrap), I was not all that comfortable with it. But the original poster said he had no other option than a mast rack for storage, so I was trying to stay within that parameter.

But, I'm glad you "broke out" and put in a suggestion for a really good, "right" way. I really like wooden spars, but they don't seem to play all that well with uncovered, outdoor mast racks.

I had to look up "construction screws." I had not heard of them, but the name made me think of some sort of heavy-duty sheet rock screw type of thing. Here is a photo of one type I found from (naturally) www.screw-products.com:



I don't really remember these from when I was building/remodeling a house vs. boats, but that was quite a few years ago and pre-internet (or maybe I just missed them or hadn't heard the name?).

[Paulus]

Given this group's insatiable (is that a word?) appetite for pictures, I did find two in my stack that (sort of) show the support posts which held the masts last winter season…

Just to give you an idea…

Cockpit re-polysulfited :-) sanded and sealed:


Topsides sanded and primed:


masts high and dry...

[Tom Young]

I sure don't like the idea of housewraps or anything close to the spar. The housewrap weeps moisture through and holds it tight to the wood.

Only if you put it on inside out. It is working well on untold thousands of houses right up against the sheathing.

That being said I still don't like the idea of an outdoor rack without a roof at all really. But Paulus seemed resigned to that storage method at least for this winter.

I don't know about thousands of houses, but I've built quite a few and installed acres of house wrap over several decades. I've also unearthed quite a bit of it in my work as a design builder.

Housewrap for me is a good product but not the miracle Dupont, et al, wants you to believe. If water gets through the siding, it will weep through the wrap and rot the sheathing beneath.

Still I use it first for another air infiltration barrier on a wall, and and a water barrier guard. It works pretty well but is not a full cure for either.

Housewraps best acheivement I believe, are the hundreds of square miles of free billboard advertising it has achieved for the manufactuers. :)

[Tom Young]

I had to look up "construction screws." I had not heard of them, but the name made me think of some sort of heavy-duty sheet rock screw type of thing. Here is a photo of one type I found from (naturally) http://www.screw-products.com:



I don't really remember these from when I was building/remodeling a house vs. boats, but that was quite a few years ago and pre-internet (or maybe I just missed them or hadn't heard the name?).

Hi Rachel. I don't know if "Construction screws" are the correct term, but that's them(in your post). They cut their own hole, limit splitting, come in all different lengths and head designs, the heads have cutters for easy recess, heavy structural to trim head, and can improve a lot of construction projects. For my mast, they speed things up, the Torx type bits are sure and fast.

They don't have much use on boats but around the home they're great. My only complaint is guys I have working for me seem to over use them(they forget nails in the right place are still good) and they are expensive!

[Tom Young]

Tonights storm spurred me to get the boat and mast covered.