Mast and wishbone boom maintenance

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
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I have just purchased my first boat, a Nonsuch 22 (#55) currently called “Rosy Red”.from a seller in LaConnor WA. He kindly had her delivered to me in Sidney BC (on Vancouver Island) and this week I have brought her home to the Maple Bay Yacht Club in Maple Bay, BC. The seller took good care of the boat but, like all new owners, I want / need to do some repairs and maintenance. A local boat maintenance professional started working on her the day after I brought her home, going through the list of items on the pre-purchase survey.

I have a question about maintenance of the mast and wishbone boom. The professional who is working on her will lubricate the groove where the halyard runs. But is there something I can do to protect / condition / preserve the metal of the wishbone boom and the mast? When I look at the bottom of the mast, by the mast step, it is protected from the weather and looks in perfect condition, like new really. But the exposed part of the mast and the wishbone boom look aged / weathered / dull. Are there any products I can use to treat these exposed metal components to protect them and extend their life? Thanks for any ideas.

I’d also like to thank all of you who share ideas about how to maintain and improve these lovely boats. This discussion group is a very valuable resource.

Elsie Sands
Nonsuch 22 (currently “Rosy Red”)
Maple Bay, BC, Canada

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Hi Elsie -

Welcome. Your NS22 (#55) is one boat before mine (S/V Moustaches - NS56). You’ll be sailing her in a gorgeous place (likely all winter - lucky you). If you can, post some photos of the boat and the mast and boom and some aluminum experts will, I’m sure, chime in. I don’t know if you are a member of our association (the INA) but we’d welcome you so … join up !!

Have fun with your wonderful new boat. I call mine “a windsurfer with a flat screen TV and a toaster oven” (and a few more goodies).

Cheers,

Ernie A. in Toronto (where, sadly, we cannot sail in the winter)

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Thanks for your warm welcome Ernie. I’m originally from Hamilton so I have experience with Toronto area winters. Yup, sailing might not be a winter sport there. :-). I’ll try to post some photos of Rosy Red.

Elsie

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Elsie,

Congrats on your new boat!

The issues for your mast and boom depend on two things: the condition, which be clearer when you post pictures, and your goals for the boat.

Unless there are signs of major pitting or corrosion (e.g., patchs of the aluminum turning into a whitish crusty substance some of which flakes off), then the major maintenance issues are regularly checking any stainless steel bolts and the fastenings they’re holding. If not properly bedded, there can be corrosion where stainless steel and aluminum make contact. If bolts are loose, in addition to not doing their job of holding parts in place, they can wear and enlarge their holes.

If the exposed parts are merely grey, then how much care they need really depends on your concerns for the boat’s appearance. A dull grey simply means the aluminum has a thin surface layer that is actually protecting it from corrosion. With stainless steel, that protective layer’s shiny, but with aluminum, dull grey is pretty standard.

I’m sure you’ll be getting a wide range of opinions, so wait a few days for multiple responses and you should have a range of ideas to choose among to suit your needs.

Best wishes,

– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch 26U #233

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Congratulations Elsie! I saw the pictures of your boat, it’s lovely, the red is great, distinctive. And I agree, this discussion group is a terrific resource, members are so quick to help.

Enjoy!

Dorothy Nonsuch 30 ABYC Toronto

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Thanks for your congratulations and good wishes Dorothy. I appreciate your kind comments and am very happy to be part of the Nonsuch community.

Rosy sends greetings to her larger cousin in Toronto!

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We have good success keeping the mast and boom looking good by cleaning and waxing. We have used Vim a bathroom cleaner you can by at the Dollar store. We then wax it, Nu-finish ( Canadian Tire) is a good choice, easy to apply .

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Elsie,
Glad to hear you have completed the purchase.

The Mast and boom you have are anodized aluminium. Here is a link to an web page that discusses anodizing and describes what it is:
https://www.anodizing.org/page/what-is-anodizing

Here is a link to an article from Practical Sailor on how to care for anodized aluminium:

https://www.practical-sailor.com/boat-maintenance/making-an-anodized-mast-look-like-new

Hope this helps. It is generally easier to clean when the boom is down and the mast is out of the boat.

Based on the photos it looks like a previous owner put short lazy jacks on the boom. The intention may have been to lift the foot of the sail to enhancing visibility on the leeward side. I suggest you consider longer lazy jacks so that the foot of the sail can set correctly. I agree with Ernie that a three to one purchase on the mainsheet should not be necessary and a block and tackle arrangement like Ernie has on the topping lift will help. The lashing holding the clew of the sail looks a bit long. In the photos the sail cover does not cover that last part of the sail near the clew. Hopefully when it is put away at the dock all of the sail is covered. The sun is not kind to sail cloth.

I like the look of the red fenders but when they age they will start to leave red marks on the hull. You can delay the process by getting fender covers but the exposed ends will still leave marks. If you can find track pants at the local second hand clothing store the legs are easy to convert in to fender covers. The thigh will normally fit larger fenders and the calf will fit small fenders. If you luck out you can find track pants with cool logos on the legs. For a number of years I had Puma logos on the finder covers for La Reina. If you are buying material make sure it is colour fast. We bought dark blue material to make fender covers for La Reina. It was nice stretch material. We washed it several times and no dye came out, perfect. Made the covers and put them on. After two weeks hanging off the side of the boat in the rain and sun I had purple stains on the white gel coat that took a lot of time with the one step wax and cleaner to remove.

Mark Powers

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Track pants - how brilliant, Mark. I have built up quite a collection of sweat pants (COVID wardrobe). They may work really well.

In my years working at the National Ballet, I used old Lycra dance tights. they sort of worked. And, they looked sort of goofy.

Ernie A. in Toronto

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Elsie,

The advice and article pointers from Thor and Mark do a great job of covering the range of things you can do with your mast, and range of money you can spend, to achieve various levels of appearance.

And, I concur with all the folks who’ve said your mast and boat look pretty darn nice as they already are. I’m formally on record that 49.7346% of the fun of boats is working on them, with 50.2654% of the fun being sailing them. That said, you could do nothing with your mast and still be just fine.

And I also concur with Mark and Ernie’s suggestions about the rigging. If I was going to prioritize them, I’d say that – by making it easier to adjust the sail to varying conditions with the choker – tightening the lashing of the sail end to the boom will give you the most reward in sailing performance with the least effort to make the change.

Nonsuches are pretty forgiving boats. You could ignore all the advice above, do nothing with yours but go sailing, and still have a lot of fun. But, I think you’ve got some good suggestions for things to do should the urge to do them strike.

Happy sailing,

– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch 26U #143

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These sound like great tips for keeping the mast and boom looking good. Do you do this mast and boom maintenance when the mast is off the boat? Or?

Thanks!

Elsie Sands
NS 22 #55 “Rosy Red”
Maple Bay, BC

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Mark,

Thanks for all this excellent information. I got a good laugh when I read about the fender covers! Now I’m afraid I’m going to see thighs when I look at fenders … haha. It’s a great idea though and I’ll probably do it. I’ll also read the links about the anodized aluminum and how to care for it. Thanks very much for that.
One of the things Lee (the seller) sent with the boat is a book called “Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual” , almost 900 pages. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

The 3 to 1 purchase on the main sheet might have been done because the sail is quite hard to lift, even with the 3 to 1 purchase. I think the halyard groove on the mast (probably not what it’s called) needs to be lubricated. I’ll get that done and try to see what’s causing the sail to be so “sticky” when it’s going up. When we got the boat to Maple Bay it was hard to get the sail to fall as well.

The clew seemed not to be lashed to the end of the wishbone at all when we set off. Ben (a previous owner, helping me to move the boat) tied a knot on it just to get us up to Maple Bay, but there must be a fitting missing or something. I’ll get it sorted out.

Thanks again for all your valuable help.

Elsie Sands
NS 22 #55 (Rosy Red)
Maple Bay, BC

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Bob,

Thanks very much for this. Yes, I’ve had a range of generous good advice about how I can maintain the mast and wishbone boom.

I think the main sheet must be rigged the way it is because the sail is pretty hard to raise. It doesn’t fall very easily either. The rigging on that sheet might have been an effort to solve a problem that might not have much to do with the rigging. I’ll have to investigate, maybe lubricate the groove on the mast and look for other possible causes of the “sticky” halyard. Where is that troop of mast monkeys when I need them?

Elsie Sands
NS22 #55 “Rosy Red”
Maple Bay, BC

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What type of slides do you have for the sail. Bronze are better than stainless steel. In either case they should be lubricated. A bit of dishwashing detergent on the slides before you hoist will made a big difference plus it gradually cleans the sail track. I would use Sunlight, it is suppose to work better with salt water but is Dawn is what you have aboard that is fine. Just a drop or two on each slide should do the trick. A number of the members will tell you how great the Strong Track system for sail track and slides performs. I don’t think you should rush out and buy one just yet. They are not cheap and they require new slides be sewn to the sail. I would try other methods before spending the money.

The 3:1 purchase on the main sheet won’t make a difference to the hoist. Generally you want to lift the boom on the topping lift before you hoist the sail so you only lift the sail not the boom as well. Having a 3:1 up to a 5:1 purchase on the topping lift will make lifting the boom and therefore listing the sail easier.

Some people attach the clew to the boom with a twist “d” shackle. Others will use a shackle and lashing. Some use two shackles and some use an eyebolt and lashing.

There will be a sheave at the top of the mast. It needs to spin freely. Sometimes they wear out and need to be replaced. If you go to Mike Quill’s web page there is a menu on the left side. Most of the way down you will see an item listed as “NS26 Top Lift”. Open that. It is of a 26 but will give you an idea of what is at the mast head. Also if you open the menu item "Stores and look through the items there you will find a picture of the sheaves he sells.

We will have to line up one of our knowledgeable members to come by the boat and give you some help.

Mark Powers

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I sat down at the desk top computer (bigger screen ) and zoomed in on the photos. I see that a prior owner has re rigged the mainsheet. The standard rigging has a 2:1 purchase between the boom and the cockpit coaming. The sheet then runs to a turning block on the starboard corner of the the cockpit and forward to a winch on the coaming. On Rosy Red I can see that the turning block on the coaming is still present but not used. Instead of a winch it appears you have a horn cleat. There is a 3:1 purchase between the boom and coaming with a cam cleat on the lower block. With that set up the 3:1 purchase could come in handy. The mainsheet will need to be long enough that you can let the boom out at least 90 degrees to the hull for running downwind.

Mark Powers

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Hi Elsie,

A few years ago I was having trouble with raising the sail on our Nonsuch 30, it’s heavy and the size of a small condo. So now as I insert the slides at the beginning of the season, I spray each slide lightly with silicone, sail goes up easily without using the winch about halfway or more, falls very smoothly too.

Dorothy
Nonsuch 30 Cathartic ABYC Toronto

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If you are having trouble with the weight of the main, many of us use electric drills to make quick and light work of raising it.
I use a Milwaukee 28V right angle model that raises my sail in ~20 seconds. On a 22 you could use a smaller one.
Drop over some day and check it out.

Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay, B.C.

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Elsie -

Flat out, aside from the various additions/fixes that you and your “professional” (I love that - not all of them are, indeed, professionals) are undertaking with your boat, do not fall into the trap of trying to “get it all done NOW”. Your boat appears to be in lovely shape. Rock solid and ready to go. Like the rest of us, you will find zillions of things “to fix” (the more you look). Plenty of these things ain’t broke at all. Plenty of others can be fixed/changed/altered/modified in countless ways. Lots of us have a ball trying to “think out of the box”, re-purposing all manner of crazy stuff.

With respect, your little boat is built to go to war in and, yup, it’ll be around after you are not. Like Downton Abbey, you are it’s caregiver for the present. Take your time - you’ve got loads of it.

The absolute BEST thing that you can do is to connect up with any one of the brilliant Nonsuch sailors out your way, like Mark P. in VAN or, especially, Paul M. who is close by you. Fifteen pages of written instructions cannot hold a candle to seeing some of these obvious and dead simple items and chatting with these folks. REALLY fine bottles of wine might even get you a sail or two on SEN (someone else’s Nonsuch). Actually, you might not even need the wine …

It is, honestly, as simple as that. Hot running water, eh ?? Ooooohhhh … how cushy. I don’t have that on my boat (tho I have lots of other creature comforts and mod cons).

These little NS22s go like locomotives. Especially on a reach. It is truly simple to sail a Nonsuch and they are very forgiving. That said, with only one sail, you will learn plenty of tricks in order to sail this boat really well and that will take time. I’ve owned MOUSTACHES for 9 years and, now, I can actually get her off the dock and sail her myself !!!

Big lie. I did that on day one. I single-hand this boat 99% of the time. But, now I can sail her better than before. The real truth is that you, after a few hours of instruction, will feel very confident in your boat. Many of us single-hand larger Nonsuches all the time. The bigger the boat, the heavier. Trickier to leave and arrive at the dock. Wind is a force in nature that blows mostly at the very moment that you are leaving the dock or arriving. Just like a traffic cop, it’s there when you can do without it.

You want to minimize the back-breaking aspects. Raising the sail (simple fix), raising or adjusting the height of the boom (simple fix), pulling (groan … ) your reefing lines to make your sail smaller when there is too much wind (simple fix), woman-handling your boat right after you have arrived and you’re trying to get her tied up (technique and a simple fix).

And, boy o boy, do these “fixes” make a hell of a difference. Sometime, you may have to spend a hundred bucks on a whole lotta new line for something. That new line may end up burning your hands MUCH less, be WAY easier to pull and do the job ten times better. It’s loads of fun buying gifties for the boat like new $$$$$$$ instruments, etc. but, sometimes (actually, many times) they may not be required. And, the old rule that still holds is, the more there is to break, the more things will break.

That is quite the mouthful, I think. A visit to someone else’s boat will yield lots of good info.

On another note, we, here in the East, have not been able to get some of the imagery of the climactic mess in B.C. out of minds. I do hope that you guys are OK and not experiencing some of the hell that some poor people have been through out there. I sure hope that things improve (though, I gotta say, I’m skeptical). Climate change is deadly real.

Take the best of care, Elsie. Oh … have you joined the INA ?? Hope so !!

Ernie A. in Toronto

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Thanks for all your great advice Ernie, but I don't feel as if I'm falling into any trap. Yes, my boat is in lovely shape but the insurer required me to commit to rectifying some of the safety concerns identified on the pre-purchase survey. Also:
1. The previous owner kindly sent a new hot water heater / tank and a pump with the boat, but they weren't installed. He had intended to do it but his health deteriorated and he couldn't. Seems to make sense to have that stuff installed rather than let it sit in the boxes for a couple more years. I almost certainly wouldn't have done this otherwise.
2. A new AC 3 breaker panel had been installed but was covered with red tape and a warning not to use it. Turns out the wiring was wrong and the power to the outlets stayed on regardless the position of the breakers. It's a safety thing so I've had that fixed.
3. One of the batteries is on it's last legs. I'm having it replaced.
4. The pre-purchase survey identified a few other safety concerns. They're being dealt with.
5. Both the surveyor and the insurer recommended an automatic bilge pump be installed. That's being done. Do you have one on Mustaches?
6. The light fixture over the table between the settees is toast. I'll replace it with an LED fixture and will maybe change out the other two light fixtures as well while I'm at it.
These don't seem like extravagant or unnecessary fixes to me. Truthfully, I'd rather be spending the money on new upholstery for the cabin settees, but functionality and safety seem to trump my aesthetic preference for the settee upholstery ... hehe.

With respect, I absolutely understand that I'm a caretaker for now of this boat and I enjoy that role. I can't believe my good luck in finding this lovely NS 22. It is exactly what I was looking for. Very, very hard to find on the west coast. I'm also delighted that it has a tiller and an outboard. Lucky me! I've already connected with Mark P. and with Paul M. thanks. Paul is the one who sailed out of Cowichan Bay to greet Rosy Red on her journey north to Maple Bay earlier this week. We photographed each other's boats and he has invited me to come and see his electric drill set up for raising the sail. I appreciate his offer and am looking forward to going.

I'm content with you not having hot running water on your boat. Your choice, right? Your seller maybe didn't send a water heater and pump with the boat, ready to be installed. We each need to make our own decisions about priorities for our boats and I won't say a word about the other "creature comforts" you mentioned you have. I'm curious though. I'm looking forward to "installing" a backgammon board. I wonder if there are any other NS backgammon players.

Our boats are closely related, almost like twins, and you have much more experience than I do. So I greatly appreciate your input and advice. I'll explore some of those quick fixes you mentioned for rigging, etc.

Yup, I've joined the INA. What a great organization.

Thanks for asking about our awful situation in BC because of that atmospheric river and the record breaking deluge. It made it hard for me to get down to Sidney to pick up Rosy Red ... friend had to drive me part way through sometimes pretty deep water to get the Mill Bay ferry where I could walk on and then make my way to Sidney in a shared taxi. But my home, the town, and the MBYC are all okay, thanks. Heart breaking to hear about the thousands of animals drowned on the mainland. And the supply chain here is even more broken than it was before the flooding. Gas is rationed; there are limits on how much we can buy in some supermarkets. Still feeling very lucky to live where I do though.

Thanks again, Ernie, for all your good advice. If only we could go for a sail together!

Elsie Sands
NS 22 #55. "Rosy Red"
Maple Bay, BC

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Well, I think you are doing great and, by what you write and say, I have a hard time believing that you are a newbie to this. Hmmm …maybe in a past life ??

As far as going for a sail together, you just never know. With COVID floating around (and not going away in any sort of a hurry), Sandra and I are sticking to Canada for our travels so … you just might get a knock on the door. You live in a breathtakingly beautiful place. Know any good B and B out there around you ??

Do let me know if you are out here in Canada’s eastern paradise, Toronto. It is, after all, the very centre of the universe (tho I love Montreal, my home town).

Ernie A. in … well, you know.