EP63 - Ready to Re-Step Our Mast… Then It All Fell Apart

After more than a year with our mast down, we’re finally pushing hard toward re-stepping — or so we thought.

In this episode, we dive back into the final stages of our complete mast rebuild, a project that has included stripping the old paint, full rewiring, new clutches, new lights, and cleaning and servicing every single piece of hardware. This week was all about getting the mast as close to ready as possible for crane day.

We wire the masthead VHF antenna, anchor light, and weather instrument, then tackle one of the most challenging parts of mast work: running lines internally. To get past the obstacles inside the mast, we break out an RC car to help pull messenger lines through — an unconventional solution that actually works.

From there, we reassemble the furler, reinstall the spreaders, wire in the spreader lights, and hang the standing rigging back in place. Everything is coming together — except the final step. We can’t secure the lower ends of the standing rigging yet because we’re still waiting on our new turnbuckles.
Then comes the gut punch.

Two days before our scheduled crane appointment, the turnbuckles finally arrive… and they’re wrong. The threads are too large, they won’t fit, and there’s no workaround. The crane is canceled. The re-step is postponed. And after a year of work, we’re absolutely crushed.

This is the reality of long refits — progress, momentum, and sometimes heartbreaking setbacks right at the finish line. If you’ve rebuilt a mast, dealt with rigging delays, or lived through parts arriving almost right, you’ll understand this one.

Thanks for following along as we keep pushing forward. We’ll get there — even if it takes a little longer than planned.