Installed Custom Mast Steps

I designed some super simple mast steps for us.  I didn’t like the popular commercially available options: the folding steps are too much of a hassle, too complicated, and too much money, and the stirrup kind are too large and bulky (fouling lines) and also too expensive.  All three of us are climbers, so we wanted just a small “L” just large enough for secure purchase, with rounded corners to let lines easily pass by. I asked a sailing machinist John Ryan for advice and help, and got a ton.  John Ryan graciously improved the design and fabricated them, far more perfectly than we ever expected (from choice of aluminum alloy, to the tumbling to remove all edges, to the clear anodize finish, and even the rivets, drill bit size, and pattern to follow for drilling the holes!), and jonny installed them. Well they’re all in now and the end result is stellar–everything that we wanted.  It is fast and easy to climb to the top of the mast, fun even.  Everyone who sees them wants their own, too!