1. No. It waterproofs it and provides some abrasion resistance, but does not make the mast any appreciably stiffer. If you want to make the mast stronger, cover it with a layer of unidirectional carbon fiber with the fibers oriented the long way.

2. I just put my masts on sawhorses. Be sure to put a tarp underneath to catch drips.

Have fun,

Laszlo

Is adding the carbon fiber something desirable or ?

I guess my question is "what are my chances of breaking mast?" I will just be putzing - gungholing around in the skerry.

Thanks

For the spars on my dory, I hammered in a healthy nail into the dead-center of each end (after pre-drilling to avoid splits) and then hung the spars by their nails from saw horses.  The nails permit rolling the spar, which is helpful.  When done, I just dropped in a bit of varnish into the holes to keep any water out.  I did not epoxy.

Fred,

If your real question was about the mast breaking, I've been on this and the old forum since before the Skerry came out and can only remember 1 post about a Skerry mast breaking. If I remember correctly, it was the result of a bad glue joint. The mast as designed will work fine for your gunkholing. Just keep inspecting it for water damage, rot, etc. and fix any problems early. BTW, Frank's idea about the nails will give you a much neater varnish job than just putting the mast on sawhorses.

Laszlo

If you build your own mast, cutting the mast in 2 halves with the grain and then gluing the 2 halves back to back and then shape or taper the mast as needed. It is even possible to quater the wood and glue it back together. Or even use smaller lengths of wood to build the spar in this manner.