This done the second nut was threaded onto each bolt
against the first so as to lock it in place and prevent it from jarring
loose.
Stepping the Mast.
Our next task was to step the mast. We found in the shed an old flagstaff
15 feet long and 3 inches in diameter. The lower end of this, for about a
foot, we whittled down to a diameter of 2 inches, and drove it into a hole
in the backbone 12 inches from the forward end. The mast was stayed by a
wire stretched from the head to an eye bolt at the fore end of the
backbone. The end of the mast which projected below the backbone was
stayed with wire running forward to an eye bolt and aft to a screw eye on
the backbone, and also with a pair of wires running to screw eyes threaded
into the crosspiece near the ends. We couldn't very well use eye bolts on
these wires except at the fore end, but we stretched the wires as tight as
possible before the screw eyes were screwed all the way in, and then, as
we turned the screw eyes, the wire was wound up on them and drawn fairly
taut. Fig. 219 shows a side view of the frame, and wires marked 1 and 2
are the same as illustrated in Fig. 218, which is a top or plan view of
the frame.
[Illustration: Fig.
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