When rebuilding ZV2, we used a green colored primer and painted the mast using the same Awl-Grip paint as the hull. I remember asking Scottie if we could paint the mast the original Zephyr color blue and he talked me out of it. To remove the old paint from the mast, I used an orbital sander with a vacuum. Slightly apply pressure to remove the paint. When the mast ws down, we washed the inside with a pressure washer. Don't forget this is the best time to replace the shives :>)
There are no baking soda sandblasting type paint removal shops in New Orleans. I recommend investigating this option to save some time. Sanding a mast to bare aluminum is about a 20-30 hour project.
I found this story about us rebuilding ZV2. It was never published and still is considered a draft. Enjoy.
http://noyc.org/zephyr/TheZV2Story.pdf
Dave
