Making a Mast Boot

Allison Watters, owner of Brooklin Canvas Design, has been working with sewing machines since she was a child. Well known in the Maine boating community, she brings an appreciation for and plenty of experience to constructing functional and beautiful items to the marine canvas and upholstery industry where she has been working professionally for the past 12 years.

In this episode the viewer learns the traditional method for making a good looking canvas mast boot or skirt between the deck and a keel stepped mast. The mast boot will be fashioned for a 15’ Charles Wittholz catboat. The purpose of this lampshade-shaped, outer cover is to prevent water leaking down the mast into the boat interior and to protect the waterproof rubber seal under the boot from UV or physical damage.

To get started, a bit of geometry and basic math comes into play when making an accurate paper pattern on the boat itself. The circumference of the mast, the circumference of the deck ring, and the proposed height of the mast boot all determined. After this pattern has been made and fitted, Allison returns to her shop to fine tune the pattern and marks it out on the cloth allowing plenty of extra for seams and overlaps. Then, it’s a series of steps on the sewing machine and on the workbench creating the lampshade shape and eventually adding Velcro to the seam which allows for easy placement/removal with the mast stepped.

This is a project that, with a little patience and experience with one’s sewing machine, the boat owner can confidently take on with fine results.