Lacking Fingerprints

It's probably time to commit the heist of the century. After spending the better part of an afternoon with sandpaper in hand, half of Spark's mast is now devoid of Varnish. Obviously this does not mean I am halfway through refinishing, this was the rough stuff, 80 grit, that I used to strip off 55 year old Varnish.

As an old lady, I am not above letting Spark show her gray a bit. While I will be letting in new wood where any and all screw fittings are, I am not going to finish her mast to a perfect mirror shine, she has too many dents and scars for that. While the middle of the mast is in excellent shape, the foot took abuse from being in water (no rot though!) and from being set roughly onto the hog, and the upper 6 feet has many dents and scars from being banged into things over the years. Spark will wear these marks with pride!

A few of the pics show a before shot of the part I sanded, but as you san see, the clear grain of Spark's wooden mast comes up beautifully with only a few blemishes from sun darkening and water immersion. I find myself tempted to paint the very tip of her mast white, it seems traditional.