Repairing a wooden mast

[kaboothby]

I once used Spartite (the synthetic rubber stuff) for sealing the mast at the partners. Then the boatyard was unable to remove the mast without pulling the whole cabin top off, so I drilled down into the Spartite until it was sufficiently weakened for them to pull the mast. Unfortunately in some places I drilled into the mast. Worst case the drill went about 3/4" into the mast, at say a twenty degree angle from the vertical. So I have about six or seven fairly deep gouges in a round mast, approx. 7.5 inches in diameter. The mast is nearly solid (so I was told by the builder), being a pole mast for a gaff rigger. It is made of Douglas fir.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to repair this? As I intend to go back to a canvas boot and wedges, the area of the repair should be mostly hidden.

Thanks, Kevin

[jackster]

Kevin,
If indeed the gouges are as innocuous as you say, chisel out the areas and square them off to an even depth and shape, fit dutch-men (patches of the same wood) to fit and a little proud, glue in with some epoxy, sand and shape, and finish (varnish, paint?).
Be sure to seal up the area, which will be much larger after you sand everything out, which also may mean it will be visible, with primer and paint or multi coats of varnish.
Others will probably be along with more advice soon, good luck.

[Jay Greer]

Since your mast damage is located in an area that is primarily subject to vertical thrust, I seriously doubt that any damage other than cosmetic has occured. You might consider sealing the scars with varnish and then covering any of the exposed area in below the partners with a decorative item, known as a "mast coat". This is usually a bit of fancy work made up of cross pointed sein twine that is topped with a large turks head top and bottom. Some are also made of canvas that has been worked so as to create a pattern in the warp and weft by systimatacly puling threads and tying them into a decorative pattern. The selvege edge is then made up into a series of tassels.
Jay

[dpincus]

If you've drilled into the wood, why not fill with doweling and then sand smooth.

dp

[kaboothby]

Thanks for the replies. The boat is 31 feet, approx. seven tons, and the mast is well stayed (two sets of lowers, forestay, jibstay, runners).
My thought was similar to the idea of putting in dutchmans, only I thought to construct a jig so that I could saw out a very shallow 'V' parallel to the mast and then glue in a scarf. As long as the scarf is about ten times as long as the depth, that will restore the area to 100% of its original strength, right?

[Vince Brennan]

snip>>Some are also made of canvas that has been worked so as to create a pattern in the warp and weft by systimatacly puling threads and tying them into a decorative pattern. The selvege edge is then made up into a series of tassels.
Jay

A. K. A. MacNamara's Lace or a MacNamara's Coat. Good call.