Raising and lowering the mast on the Wayfarer can cause a lot of wear-and-tear. Trailering her along bumpy frost-heaved Maine roads doesn't help the situation much. The mast and spreaders receive much of that abuse. Last year as I put Juliet away for the winter, one of the spreaders cracked and broke into two. I looked closely at the spreader, and resolved to bring the needed repair parts with me in the spring when Jennifer and I returned to Deer Isle. On our drive north from North Carolina, I collected a few things I thought might come in handy. First I stopped at Hamilton Marine in Searsport, Maine. I thought I would be able to just buy a spreader arm or set. I only found some Taylor brand boots to put over the spreaders. So on to the next stop, the hardware store in Bucksport. There I found 3/4 inch electrical conduit that seemed like it might be a good backup plan.
Juliet had waited all winter on Deer Isle, way down at the bottom of Mary's backyard. Usually we stash the boat around a bend in the trees but last year we tried putting her in the old boathouse at the bottom of the yard. I found the boat and trailer stuck axle deep in mud. Instead of struggling against the mud, I used a couple of old boards under the trailer wheels and Juliet followed along like an obedient puppy, all the way up the grass yard.
In the driveway I got another look at the broken spreader. Now, how to fix the damage? It seemed like Juliet needed another spreader, and the conduit was going to be it. I measured the length of the spreader, and cut a piece of conduit to match.
Then I realized that I really wanted a splint for the broken outside end of the spreader. I cut the replacement spreader down by about four inches, so that it would act as a sleeve. I flattened and drilled a hole through the mast end of the conduit to screw it to the mast brace. Below, I am smoothing the burrs of the sawn ends of the newly fabricated spreader. The broken original spreader is across the port gunwhale.
After I got a screw through the new piece, I slid the old broken spreader into the new, and taped it up to prevent the sail from contacting anything rough. It worked pretty well. I only spent a little on the parts, although I plan to order the new correct spreaders for the Wayfarer. I like working on the Wayfarer, because anyone can see what is wrong when something is broken, and then repair it with a little creativity, even on the water.
