Trailering Dimensions (Part 2)
Dick is right on the fore mast holder. The first thing I did was cut mine down to a resonable height and redrilled mounting holes. I am 6 feet tall and could not touch the mast in the fore rack when standing on the ground (with the riser set in its lowest position). I sure as heck wasn't going to climb up on the tongue every time I had to mess with the mast. Now, I can get the boat in any normal door or do any fiddling around from the ground. Additionally, I really cut down on the side sway of the mast while driving. I reset my fore mount length by moving the riser to its shortest adjustment height then placing the rear end of the mast in the rear mount. Then I moved the fore end of the mast down along the riser until I reached a point where the spreaders (installed on the mast) were 3-4 inches above the boat. I then placed a mark on the riser. The length from the bottom of the riser to this mark was the "new" riser length... DO NOT CUT AT THIS MARK...MAKE YOUR CUT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RISER. Take this measurement and measure down from the top of the riser and make a mark. This is you cut line. Cut through it, mark a hole, drill one hole, put a bolt in place and drill a few more holes. It is still high enough that you won't bump your head on it, but it is easily reachable from the ground. It also looked really stupid that high up and looks much more sleak on the trailer! Another unintended benefit was that by lowering the front of the mast, the rear of the mast levers up. It actually lifted up high enough that I can park my Super Duty behind the boat in my driveway and they both now fit. The mast is now over the top of the hood of the truck. As for storage of the mast, Dick you have it right. Hang it from the rafters for long term storage.
