Because the thick windlass base will become the jig to guide the drilling of the holes through the deck, and because all the holes must align precisely (within 1/32 of an inch) with the holes in the stainless steel windlass base, the drilling operation had to be done carefully. I used the thick rubber base gasket that came with windlass as a guide. The bolt holes could be marked and started by carefully drilling a small centering dimple in the base with an electric hand drill using the gasket's holes to place and center the bit. I finished drilling the holes through the base using the drill press to insure that the holes were perpendicular to the base. I had to recall some long-dormant geometry memories to figure out how to find the center for the hole saw to drill the 2-inch holes that needed to line up with the middle of the windlass's rectangular hawse pipe opening and the round hole for the motor shaft. While the chain pipe hole could be a little off, the motor shaft hole couldn't. With my little benchtop drill press it took a while to get through the 1 1/2 inches of fiberglass, and I burned through 3 hole saws in the process. But I finally got her done. The big test: would the motor shaft and all the bolts go through the windlass mounting plate and fiberglass base cleanly and straight?
I slipped the base over the motor shaft and gingerly inserted the bolts through the holes one at a time. As I slid in the last bolt, I sighed a great sigh, composed of equal parts relief and satisfaction, when everything mated perfectly.
The weather cooperated over the weekend for once, and so I headed to Napa to the yard at o-dark-thirty Sunday morning. My goals were to rotate the mast so I could remount the spreaders, remove all the protective bubblewrap, mount the spreaders, attach the wire shrouds, and sand and prime damaged paint. If I had time, I also wanted to see how the new windlass would mount on deck now that I had holes in the new base to align with the existing chain pipe hole. I knew that rotating the mast would be tough: like everything else on this boat, it's VERY heavy. After struggling in vane to try to find a way to do it with the help of the truck or winches on the boat, I knew I would just have to try to muscle it. I found wood wedges to use to hold it in allignment should I actually be able to rotate it. Of course there was no way I could be in one place to be able to get some leverage on the mast and place the wedges. I conscripted another hapless boat owner to place the wedges while I heaved mightily on the mast. It was a tough battle, but the mast finally gave way just seconds before my back did, and the mast was rotated 90 degrees, held in place ever so tenuously by the wedges. Despite several new aches in places I had forgotten I had, I scrambled quickly to get some more reliable bracing to hold the mast in place. I definitely didn't want to have to repeat that struggle! In comparison, the rest of the jobs on the day's punch list were pretty straightforward.
I accomplished all my goals, and in addition, polished the rusty mast steps, cleaned up the aft cabin a bit, and removed the old hawse pipe which was in the way of the new windlass base. It even appeared that mounting the new base to the deck would be a bit easier than I had anticipated. As the sun set, I headed home a bit gimpy and exhausted, but satisfied.
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