Mast crutch ideas

All,

Well, it's 3.5 years on from when I bought my boat, and if you do the math, that means my daughter is now 2 3/4 years old (yeah, we found out my wife was pregnant 3 weeks after getting the boat).

The good news is that my daughter is now old enough to wield wet 'n' dry, and stable enough to not fall off the boat in the driveway.

So I have started all types of work on her (the boat, not my daughter)

One of the things I am trying to do is make transporting the mast more secure, and simpler. If templates,  and am building s small wooden crutch that clips on to the pulpit, to support the mast when it's down, but I have no idea what to do at the stern end.

I've seen a few grainy pictures that look like people use the two solid cleats to link mast supports to, but thought I would ask.

So, if you tow your boat, do you have a picture of the setup for the mast when it's down....and if so, please,send it to me!!!

Thanks

Perry

Hi Perry,

Perry wrote

[I] am building s small wooden crutch that clips on to the pulpit, to support the mast when it's down, but I have no idea what to do at the stern end.

I've seen a few grainy pictures that look like people use the two solid cleats to link mast supports to, but thought I would ask.

It's not the best of weather to take good photos of what I use, so here are two from my archives (2004 and 2005)...

The first shows how I secured the mast the second time I recovered "Imagination", as she was then called. What you don't see in this portion of the full frame is that I had tied down it so tight at the stern that there was a slight bend in the mast, as it passed over the notch at the top of the cabin door.


My concern had been that if it was not tightly held down then the mast might easily pop out of the cabin-top notch and once loose the rope unravel at the stern. However, I didn't feel that forcing a bend in the mast, however slight, was a good idea. So in preparing to return her to the water next season I did this...


I simply screwed two pieces of 6" x ¾" plank to form a T-shape and mounted it upside down at the aft of the cockpit. In the base of the "T" I cut a rounded notch deep enough to support the full diameter of the mast.

The T-piece ensures the upright can't slip sideways on the cockpit sole. A line in front of the upright running from cleat to cleat at the aft of the cockpit ensures the support cannot slip forwards. The crutch itself is of a height that ensures that the mast rests in the cabin-top notch, without being held down too tightly there.

My pulpit is of the "standard" design, with an upright on the centre-line, so the fore end of the mast can easily be tied down such that there is no risk of sideways movement. Now, with both ends of the mast firmly supported, the function of the notch in the cabin-top is reduced to simply preventing any flexing in the mast while under way.

Greg,

That's genius, especially as I have fitted a plate fixed to the pulpit so it's fixed at that end. Your idea saves me a whole load of engineering....just a t-piece and some rope....star!

Thanks very much...will post pictures when it's all done.

Perry