Once Cilantro arrived at Marina Seca in San Carlos (Sonora, Mexico) the main order of business was stepping her two masts, followed by other recommissioning tasks. We had watched the installation of the main mast in Maine last summer, but we hadn't had to do the work ourselves. And we had never even stepped the mizzen mast (due to some delayed refit work), so this would be a new experience for us too.
A bit about Marina Seca (translated as "dry marina"): it is a combination dry storage yard and work yard. Gated and guarded 24/7, Marina Seca has separate areas for storage and work. When your boat is in storage, you can access it for only 20-30 minutes at a time, usually in the company of a guard who stands by while you inspect, load, or retrieve items from your boat. This system prevents unaccompanied owners from "visiting" and "borrowing from" other people's boats. Once your boat is moved to the work yard, the cost per day is higher, but you have unlimited access to the boat: you can sleep aboard and work on any refit, repair, or maintenance jobs you choose. There are shore power and water hook-ups for the boat as well as access to bathrooms and showers. The main office building is clean and professional, with friendly bilingual staff.
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| Brown pelicans asleep in the harbor |
Why dry storage instead of a marina slip? There are slips for rent at a couple of large marinas in San Carlos, but we prefer the dry storage option: it is generally cheaper than a marina slip or rented mooring, we think security is better, and your boat is more protected from the marine elements. Of course, a dry storage yard means that the wind can deposit layers of dust and dirt on deck, but washing the deck seems preferable to worrying long-distance about storm damage or security on a boat left in the harbor, not to mention having to remove months' worth of bottom growth.
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| Curtis readies the main masthead |
Cilantro was delivered to Marina Seca in mid-December 2012. We were on hand for her arrival, with plans to stay in San Carlos just long enough to step the two masts and prep everything for storage over the winter. The main mast -- some 47 feet long and saddled with an in-mast furling system that about doubles its thickness -- weighs in the neighborhood of 500 lbs, so the marina used a forklift to set it on stands for us. The mizzen mast is only 22 feet long and can be lifted by two people. Both masts, with all their attendant hardware and rigging (shrouds and turnbuckles, spreaders, headsail foils, halyards, etc.) had been swaddled in bubble wrap, cardboard, and mast bags for transport from Maine, so Sue spent a few hours cutting and unwrapping parts and then cleaning and lubricating the turnbuckles with lanolin-based grease. Curtis, meanwhile, worked on fitting the radar dome and wind generator mounts on the mizzen mast. The radar dome needed a custom adapter plate, which Curtis had made at home out of 1/4"thick aluminum. The wind generator had a custom (is any boat part
not custom?) stainless steel mount made by a fabricator in Maine. It was designed to clasp the top several feet of the mizzen mast, both for stability and to allow us to lift the entire mechanism off the mast for repairs or maintenance. Curtis also readied the tricolor/anchor light, anemometer, and analog windvane for mounting on the main masthead.
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| Boatyard neighbors |
In between tasks, we met a number of people who were also working on their boats in the work yard. The first couple we met -- Doug and Linda -- turned out to be friends of Curtis' brother from Bend, OR. One of those small world things! They were doing maintenance work ahead of putting their boat in storage and going home for the holidays. A young couple, John (from Maine) and Lia (from Vancouver), had purchased a boat in San Carlos and were readying it to sail through the Panama Canal and back up the East Coast to Maine. Two almost-doctors from California had just finished five months of cruising (prior to starting residencies) when they ran into transmission trouble. After pulling out in San Carlos, they were decommissioning and prepping their boat for overland transport back home. Charlene and Dave from New Mexico were involved in a long-term project: rebuilding a steel-hulled 40-something-footer from the hull up. A retired couple from southern California had pulled their boat just to have the bottom cleaned and repainted; they would be cruising again soon.
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| Hoisting the mainmast |
The day we chose to step the masts on Cilantro turned out to be the day of Marina Seca's annual holiday party for their employees. We would need their stationary crane and a crew of several people to hoist and position the masts, but the rigging crews were quitting at 1:00 p.m. for the party, which meant we had to begin the stepping process no later than 11:00 a.m. We worked furiously to get everything mounted and ready, and at 11:00 sharp -- as Curtis was just bolting the tricolor/anchor light onto the masthead -- the forklift driver arrived to carry the masts one at a time over to the crane area. Several riggers walked alongside the forklift, supporting the roller furlers, shrouds, and spreaders on the mainmast, and the radar dome and wind generator on the mizzen mast. Then the hydraulic trailer arrived to move Cilantro into place beneath the crane. There were two Marina Seca riggers plus Curtis, plus one man running the crane hoist plus another man driving the tractor -- he stayed at the wheel in case Cilantro needed to be repositioned. (The crane hoist is fixed in place and does not swivel or tilt.)
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| Guiding the mainmast over the lifelines |
As the heavy main mast was hoisted slowly into position, held by a noose of large diameter rope, the riggers and crane operator coordinated with each other to avoid tangling the rigging or damaging the delicate instruments on the masthead. Curtis was on deck, ready to guide the foot of the mast onto its step and attach shrouds, furlers, and stays. Sue took photos from below. Once the main mast was secured and stabilized, we turned to the mizzen. Although much smaller and lighter than the main, the mizzen was burdened with an ungainly radar dome two-thirds of the way up and a fully assembled wind generator (with swiveling body and three wafer-thin vanes) at its head. Stepping the mizzen involved careful maneuvering and good communication between the crane operator and the riggers on deck. In the end, after the mizzen was set and stayed, one of the riggers had to go up in a bosun's chair, hoisted by the crane, to gently guide the rope collar up and away from the wind generator.
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Prepping the mizzen mast: wind generator (left)
and radar dome (right) |
With her masts stepped and standing rigging tightened down, Cilantro had been reassembled, so to speak, and was ready for storage until we could come back down and sail, hopefully in spring 2013. As we drove home to Arizona, Curtis had one nagging thought: in his haste to install the lights and wind instruments on the masthead, he had not paid strict attention to the orientation of the tricolor/anchor light. Its simple, two-bolt mount could go either way: forward or backward. We scrutinized the various photos we had taken of the mast stepping operation. From what we could see, the red and green navigating lights were facing aft! Oh well, more to do when we return.
