Finishing the New Mast Step on SV Decatur, A 1981 Panda 40

Episode #161 : Sailing Dreams : SET THE STEP
Hello Friends,
On this weeks episode we show you a few of the steps we took to making the the new mast step, as I have mentioned in other episodes in this series, we did not film this in my typical "how to" style as we were had to complete this entire project in 5 days time including pulling and stepping the mast, which only gave me 3 days to actually cut out the old, build and install the new step.
I got the step sealed in 2 coats of epoxy resin followed by 2 laters of mat glass on the bottom and 4 layers of glass on the top. The step was adhered below with thickened epoxy and tabbed onto the hull with the top 4 layers.
I also over drilled holes where the lag screws would go to fasten down he mast step and filled them with thickened epoxy before adding the 4 layers of glass. This gave us impenetrable sleeves for the lag screws to live in preventing water ingress in the future when or if the sealant breaks down, which is what I am certain was the cause of the original mast step failure.
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James & Camille
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[@jonspigel7172]

When I bought my Valiant 47 three years ago in Santa Cruz CA and had the mast unstepped for transport to Lake Michigan by truck the mast had never been removed. I was concerned what we would uncover removing the mast but the aluminum structural member that the mast sat on in the bilge was in good shape and even the bottom of the mast had almost no corrosion but I still had to drill holes in the bottom plate so standing water could drain into the bilge. Because the mast is pulled every year now for storing the boat indoors I can inspect the area for any issues. That was a really thorough job on the Baba 40. They are beautifully built boats and Tashing is one of the best yards in the world. Loved the video series you did. Keep them coming.

[@pcorm00]

Great instructional video, James. I will use your ideas on the La Sirène when the time comes. Well done!

[@rogerc4196]

Very interesting! It's a part of the boat that not a lot of people see very often.

[@seanwalsh999]

Nice work. That was a lot of effort, well done.

[@jbsanger696]

Great job!

[@ATAMNocopyrightsound]

👍

[@sakm44]

Nice work. Big job. btw - I gave your contact info to a guy that needs to move his boat from Dana Point to Channel Islands.

[@SailorJames]

Awesome thanks 🙏🏻

[@bevetsg1]

I may have missed it, or you'll cover it later but... How did you register where the mast is going to sit on the step? Centerline being relatively easy but I imagine there is a little bit of mast rake too.

[@SailorJames]

I am not sure if we filmed that process but basically we lowered the mast into place with the shoe loose, I had pulled measurements from the original and taped off an area where it would roughly be, the spartite sat down into the deck where it was previously on we didn’t have to work out that and for the bottom after we sat the mast on the step we placed the cabin sole boards in their place and used a shim to make sure it was exactly in the center of the hole... pulled the boards and I marked where the step needed to be .

[@richhamel6810]

I don't know if this is possible, but are you through bolting the mast step of just 'lagging' those bolts in? Can you reach underneath your new step platform and have nuts with washers or is that not necessary? Neat project, thanks for sharing.

[@SailorJames]

There is no need to through bolt it, it it’s primarily held in place by the weight of the mast and the mast just sits onto it with no pin or bolt attachment to secure the mast to the shoe, the shoe just needs to be arrested from horizontal movement