Mast Beam Install

Finally able to get back down to Froonie...if only for a few - but productive - hours. I was able to install the completed mast beams, as I had finished up painting the overhead. The mast beams were constructed by laminating two oak 1" x 4"s with epoxy, and then applying a template of the overhead to then cut out of the laminated beams. After a couple hours of shaping, I had arrived at a good fit. There was, even after the shaping of the surface the beams to mate with the overhead, a gap that needed to be filled. I then taped the beams to prevent epoxy from saturating it, secured the beams back, and then filled the gap with thickened epoxy. After water washing the epoxy, I sanded, primed, and painted all surfaces. The clearance is now pretty tight.

I used stainless steel carriage bolts with stainless steel washers and locking nuts. The carriage bolt heads as well as the locking nuts are recessed into the beams, and so will prevent any accidental scrapes or bumps.

The ceiling is visible in the background - I reused the original ash wood ceiling strips. The paint used on the overhead is Interlux Brightsides.

Weak Deck Beam

Part of the restoration of Froonie will require building adequate support for the deck / mast step. While researching and learning more about the Sea Sprite 23, I discovered that a number of the boats built prior to 1969 have had issues with the mast step supports cracking, as well as leaky chain plates.  Froonie happens to be a 1968, and as you can see from the photo, the mast step support has cracked and subsequently has been reinforced with 2x4s sandwiching the mast deck beam.  This solution has in fact made the deck very solid, but it is unsightly and unfinished.  So, I plan to make improvements in function and aesthetics.   Thankfully the deck is not cored, at least from what I can tell.  I have done some sanding around the mast step, and can see sunlight in those places from below - it appears that the deck is not cored.

However, I have seen some Sea Sprite 23s with cored decking around the mast step though I am not sure of the year those were built - might have been later models.  As I write this entry, I really don't know how I am going to correct this apparent weakness in the deck / mast step...thankfully there is The Plastic Classic Forum - thanks Tim Lackey!!  I plan to post some images and ask for some ideas on how to go about this project, and I know that I will get great feedback from the forum members.  You can see from the photo that the mast step is bolted to a backing plate glassed to the underside of the deck.  In addition, there are two deck beams that span the width of the deck and attach to knees that in turn are tabbed to the hull.  The deck beams need to be "beefed" up a bit, I just don't yet know the best way to go about this.  Suggestions are welcomed.

Here is another shot of the deck beam reinforced with the 2x4s sandwiching the beam.