Well, since you ask, yes, I mast.
Okay so enough with the play on words. And yes, that is my truck, and no, I wasn’t likely quite legal that day. Let me explain.
It was cost prohibitive to air freight lengths of lumber as part of the Mana 24 kit, and even more so to transport the aluminum tubes that make up the two masts for the boat. Thus began a search for a local source that could supply the tubes as spelled out in a message for JWD (James Wharram Designs):
“The masts we intend to use on the Mana are plain aluminium tubes grade 6082 -T6.
“The mizzen mast is a 3” x 10swg (75mm diameter tube with 3.2mm wall thickness) and is 4m long.
The main mast is 4 1/2” x 10swg (114mm diameter tube with 3.2mm wall thickness) and is a total length of 7.3m (24’).”
After converting that to North American standards this was the result – required was a 24 foot tube with 4 1/2 inch outside diameter plus a 13 foot tube with 3 inch diameter, each with 1/8 inch wall thickness. Since Grade 6082-T6 aluminum tubes are not readily available in North America, the suitable equivalent is Grade 6061-T6.
I also learned that such pipes come in 20 foot lengths. That presented no problem for the mizzen mast but what about the main mast? Designer, Hanneke Boon, of James Wharram Designs assured me that the solution is to splice four feet of the 4 1/2 inch pipe onto a full length to get the required 24 feet. That process will be the subject of a future post, no doubt.
In March I found a local supplier, A.S.A, who agreed to order in 2×20 foot lengths of Schedule10 four inch pipe (outside diameter 4 1/2 inches) and one 20 foot length of schedule 10 three inch pipe (outside diameter 3 inches), each with a wall thickness of 1/8 inch.
The company was unable to deliver the pipes to our address, and hence, with the assistance of my brother’s bed extender once again, I transported them myself from the north industrial area of the city to our home in the south side. I did a quick measure before I set off to get my cargo. The distance from the front of the truck box to the back of the bed extender is 10 feet 2 inches – just slightly over half the length of the pipes. So that meant that gravity was in my favour – sort of, with the extender acting as the fulcrum.
With my heavy duty ratchet straps holding the pipes down, and with an ample red flag taped to the end, I set off from the warehouse, taking care to remember my long load whenever I encountered a sharp turn. Mercifully there were only a few of those, and I returned home without incident and equally importantly without attracting the attention of the local traffic constabulary who might have had some words for me.
With timber secured and tubing for masts at hand, we waited until the “Cat Kit” would ship.
Village Rainbows 