Strenghtening mast support

Strenghtening mast support (1)

Support for the deck-stepped mast in the Vega is one of her weakest points. To solve this problem it's necessary to remove the old support beam and replace it with a new much stronger bulkhead construction.

Strengthening mast support (2)

I created this extra-strong construction by replacing the old hollow ply beam with a solid version in 40mm marine ply. This new beam completely seals off the through-deck hole for the mast cabling (which is also a weak point and now no longer needed).

Strengthening mast support (3)

The newly installed 40 mm thick beam is glued to the main bulkhead with epoxy-resin and then fixed to the bulkhead with seven M8 stainless steel lock bolts. In the fore cabin these bolts are neatly hidden behind a 4 mm mahogany ply trim piece.

Strengthening mast support (4)

On the saloon side two of the bolt heads are hidden behind the ship's clocks. In due time the last visible bolt heads will also be hidden.

Identification plate

This ID plate I had made and attached to the bulkead support. This way I killed two birds with one stone. First as a nice ornament and at the same time it covers up one of the bolt heads.

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