catalina direct mastup?

jmczzz · Apr 2, 2015

I just saw one in a post not long ago I will see if I can relocate it and see what size he used. It was a good set up... hold tight...

CaptDon01 · Apr 2, 2015

I've had several over the years on various boats, and outside of the factory stainless steel mast crutches, they are excellent, and Catalina Direct are just nice folks to deal with.

Don

jmczzz · Apr 2, 2015

found these references,
bigpapaporsche…Mast Crutches, this one was originally from a Catalina 22. I bought it used and repositioned the tabs to fit my rudder. However, the pipe is around 1 1/2 inside dia.
alabamaranger... Mine will raise up to about 5 feet. It's a tube in a tube. The outer tube is about 4 to 5 feet. Pull the inner tube out (has roller for mast) and it's 8 to 9 feet.

probably more "mast crutch" threads
James

Gene Neill · Apr 3, 2015

I made mine from wood, and it's definitely not temporary. I stole the concept from a pic I saw here; I think it was on Chris Patterson's boat?

It has three pintles which makes for two height positions. Easy enough to just grab it and raise or lower it, mast and all. I can post more pics and specifics if you decide to go this way.

gitpicker2007 · Apr 3, 2015

I got one last summer and the guys there were incredibly helpful. I LOVE the system.
It's more stable than my old home made one, and most importantly, being able to raise the mast like that gives you an added edge for the final lift. By the time you raise the unit to it's highest setting the mast is already partially lifted. Very high quality construction and components.

jmczzz · Apr 3, 2015

Hey Gene, I'd like to know specs. One question is do these pintail support types put a lot of stress on the gudgeons? Or is that a dead horse?
Thanks, James

CloudDiver · Apr 3, 2015

I bought mine used from Capt Don. I believe it is the CD unit. I can take pictures and post specs if you all would like.

As a welder I can tell you they are easy to make, but I will add that the CD price is very competitive. The cost of materials (steel tubing, hardware, and the roller) plus your fabrication time all adds up to being equivalent to just buying yourself a new one from CD.

I may end up making my own version anyway (because I love contradicting myself) since I upgraded the rudder gudgeons to 1/2" and the pintles on my Mast-Up are still 3/8". Since I have to fix that anyway I figure why not just make a new one in all stainless steel? TIG welding makes me happy ;-)

Sailm8 · Apr 3, 2015

I had one on my C22 I kept in the keys about 20 years ago. It worked great until it rusted. I could no longer get the telescoping tubes to move, frozen solid. Hope they have changed.

Gene Neill · Apr 3, 2015

piedpiperIII said:
A friend of mine, today gave me a 3" X2.5" X 8' piece of aluminum tube. Very light and very strong. I will make my mast stepper from that and use the design form above with 3 or maybe 4 pintles this way I can raise it even higher and there is enough room for it to hang lower for towing. I will for sure take pics and post here. I would have bought the CD mast up if it weren't for all my other projects and toys. Have to split the money up

Just be careful in your quest to have it high that you pay attention to how LOW the bottom is. You DON'T want it to ever drag the pavement (obviously). Mine, for instance, could never be higher in its highest position unless it was also higher in its lowest position, if that makes any sense. Based on the mast being level while trailering, it could never be raised higher than it can be now, regardless of the number of pintles.

It took me three prototypes to figure this out.

James- Here are a couple pics which will do better than words to show how mine is laid out. Yours or anyone else's will vary a little based on how high the boat sits on the trailer.

The stubby little cross member keeps the crutch from rotating and digging its pintles into the transom (if you didn't already figure that out).

BTW - DO NOT use aluminum angle to make your pintles! This is what very quickly happened to my first prototype, which used aluminum angle:

jmczzz · Apr 3, 2015

didn't mean to hijack this thread. But thanks for this Gene, I'll copy off a put it to good use.
James

Gene Neill · Apr 3, 2015

piedpiperIII said:
gene, does your crutch give you enough height to easily raise you mast? this is what I am dealing with, I am not planning on using any other lifting device just me.

Hmm, easily? No, not by myself anyway. I CAN raise the mast just by standing on the cabin and giving it the ol' heave-ho (although the friggin' shrouds ALWAYS find something to catch on, which is the main problem with this method IMO). But 99% of the time the Admiral and I do it together. I tie a line to the forestay, which she takes out in front of the tow vehicle. I stand in the cockpit and lift the mast overhead, and she hoists it from there. Easy peasy.

I can also singlehand it up by running that forestay line through a block at the bow and back to a jib winch. (We also use this method to slip under bridges.) But if I were routinely raising the mast all by my lonesome, I'd have a gin pole or similar setup real quick - probably involving an electric winch and a remote control.

I apologize that I have no pics of the mast crutch in use on the boat ... a recent computer crash wiped me out pretty bad.

CaptDon01 · Apr 3, 2015

And then there is the adjustable stainless steel mast-crutch available from Rudder-Craft. It attaches to the stainless steel frame of their kick-up rudder so you never have to remove the rudder from the boat, not even when trailering! :dance:

Now you have a better rudder,(no more hanging over the transom pushing down the rudder, installing shear pins to keep the factory rudder from coming up, or worried if the tiller is going to snap when the wind picks up), and a nifty mast-crutch also!

Don