DSC00628 A rear mast crutch is pretty simple to build but you need to attach it to something and this is where a stern rail comes in handy. Myself, I love a full stern rail and I'm fortunate that the O'Day factory was kind enough to install one on my boat when it was being built back in 1986.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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DSC00430 It's very important to have a mast crutch in the stern. You really need something to rest the mast on to keep it from hitting the top of your cabin during raising/lowering process. Wayne built the mast raising rig for his Seaward 22 and he showed me how to construct one for my boat.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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IMG 0027 What I really love about this mast carrying set up is that I can mount the rudder on the transom, tie it off, and launch my boat and raise my mast on the water. She's all set to be pulled out of the water in this pic. It's a heck of a lot easier to remove my rudder and stick it in the back of my truck after I get her pulled out of the water.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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DSC01160 The rear mast crutch has a screwed on flange on the bottom with long wood screws. I drilled a 1" hole in the bottom of the crutch so that the pipe extends beyond the flange and into the hole about 1". This gives the crutch more strength and stability on the pipe. I did the same thing to my Gin Pole which is made of wood and 1" stainless steel pipe.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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DSC00450 The most important crutch is the stern crutch. Most OD 222s didn't come through with a full stern rail but a stern rail really comes in handy for mounting the crutch. The crutch also needs to be adjustable for the height needed to be able to raise or lower your mast. I had a marine metal fabricator/ welder make me up this combination mast crutch mast raising/lowering rig for me. I did the wood work and drilled the holes through the two 60 degree offset T fittings and the single four way mast crutch pipe fitting, for Fast Pins. Years ago, I used to stow this crutch attachment in the cabin but as time went by I liked having it on because it offered some security for standing at the sailing, that I decided to just leave it connected all the time. Outside of that, I think that it makes my boat look real cool. I decided to do away with the Fast Pins and just bolt to my stern rail. The crutch pipe stows in the cabin when the mast is up. I went back to him years later after he teamed up with another guy and bought a multi million dollar marina on the Taunton River. I had a straight piece of 1" S.S. pipe and I needed to have them put a slight bend in it so that I could make a flag staff out of it. I installed a Teak cap in the top of the staff and bored a 1/4" hole at the other end of the pipe for a Fast Pin. The pipe fits in the four way pipe fitting on the top of the rail and looks real cool. The small roller in this wooden crutch can be moved up for ease in rolling the mast forward or aft without getting snagged. The welder I had make this attachment up was very familiar to me from the boat shows that I attended every year in Boston. He had a display set up and I was able to check out his work. I struck up a deal with him and brought my boat down to his house one day where he had all his metal fabrication and welding equipment in his garage. I showed him what I was using for a mast crutch which was a real heavy awkward Mickey Mouse set up and he told him to make something similar to it out of S.S. pipe. I watched him carefully as he made this up and he did it in a logical and methodical way in that everything fit together and was level and straight. He made up that curved pipe first by putting the bends needed. Then he added the 60 degree offset pipe fitting on each end of this curved pipe and figured out the exact place on my stern rail where the he had to make the cuts for these fittings. Then he took a straight pipe and put a 90 degree flat flange on it and found the center of the cockpit sole for the flange and also figured out where to cut the curved pipe for the four way pipe fitting. He made his cuts, tack welded it, and finished the welds after he removed it from the stern rail. He welded the the offset fittings and screwed the base fitting to my sole plate. That straight pipe I speak of has a flat flange attached to the top of it for the wood crutch that I later made for it which is screwed in places with four long S.S. screws. I think that my stern rail is about 15" high off the combing and the curved mast crutch rail is 30" high off the top of the transom. The rail that he made up for me curves forward because of the placement of the 90 degree base fitting on the cockpit sole which has to clear the small well for the self bailing cockpit system. Also, the pipe needs to be straight up and down. The base fitting on the sole plate supports the weight of the mast when I'm trailering the boat. All I can say is, he did a superb job of making this up for me. It was his own design. It's light in weight and easy to stow. I was a happy camper when I left his shop. Still am.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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DSC00451 I really haven't made any changes to these crutches and I really don't think I could improve on them. This bow crutch has two stainless steel anchor on the bottom with two washer and two wing nuts that fit into the hole of a permanent Teak board on the top of my bow pulpit. I used two 1" marine pipe straps to attach this board. I glued a strip of carpet to the receiving part of the crutch for the mast to lay in and I tie the mast to this crutch when trailering. The mast is also tied to the rear crutch when trailering.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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Turn Button19621 s I mentioned a turn button on the album cover. Here's what they look like. I'm sure we've all seen one of these and if you're like me, you probably didn't know what they were called. Anyway, I designed my bow crutch by using this idea in order to be able to secure it to my rail and remove it easy back then when I first built it.
- Joe11688
- Jan 31, 2013
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