Halyard Organizer/Mast Plate

[decktosser]

I know that some of you have solved this problem already but I need some help with it. I would like to place a mast plate/halyard organizer under the mast base on my 1985 Hunter 23. This would allow me to run some of the running rigging back to the cockpit. I ordered the M3 Mast Plate from Garhauer Marine but when I placed the OEM mast base onto the plate I found that i could not get the hinge pins either in or out as they would not go past the ears on the mast plate and unfortunately none of the holes on the mast plate would line up with the hinge pins. So, I ended up sending the mast plate back. For those of you that are not familiar with these parts, I have included a couple of pictures. I know that some of you have solved the problem of where to attach the turning blocks for running the lines aft, so I would really appreciate some help wit this issue.

 

[sailinmikenaz]

I had this same issue for my Pacific Dolphin 24. I lined up one set of holes in the sides of the mast plate with the mast hinge moved to the rear position, and reamed out the set of holes needed to match the pin location for the front set of holes for the mast hinge plate. Of course it would be nice if Garhauer would make a matched set of Mast Plate and Hinged Base. I think my hinged mast base was from Dwyer.

 

[rgranger]

This past summer I had to have some repairs done on my SS ladder and I found a local welder who did the job for $95. I'm betting you could find a welder to weld some SS U-bolts to the side of your mast hinge and use those and shackles to attache turning blocks. In case my description is hard to follow.... something like this. I would be surprised if it cost $50

 

[Dave Groshong]

You can always put a few padeyes on the mast and attach the blocks that way.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Not sure if you have a Kenyon Isomat or Z Spar mast. If Kenyon, contact RigRite to see if there is anything they can help with.
If Z Spar, parts are available thru US Spars via forum. @Dave Groshong could look into that. Each mast is different and getting the right mast step for the mast is imperative as you have now experienced. You could also attach stand up turning blocks bolted thru deck which I did in the past but required a deck organizer to turn the line aft to cockpit

 

[Jackdaw]

Or you could go back to the Garhauer site and find the organizer plate on the very same page. Its like 15 bucks and you can mount them on any side of the mast; port, startboard, fore or aft. I have one to hold my vang blocks in place.

 

[decktosser]

Or you could go back to the Garhauer site and find the organizer plate on the very same page. Its like 15 bucks and you can mount them on any side of the mast; port, startboard, fore or aft. I have one to hold my vang blocks in place.

View attachment 157346

Thanks to all that answered to my call for help! I like Jackdaw's idea but I am trying to avoid drilling any more holes in the deck. Since I think I only need four turning blocks I am going to attach them onto the pins that go through the mast base. This was done by another fellow on this site (Chris?) and it looks like the best alternative to drilling any more holes than need be. Attached is a picture of how this might work. Imagine that the chain quick links are the turning blocks...

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I would advise against that. I have seen an aftermath in the past.
The key is the mast step to fit the base of the mast. I would nix any idea to attach blocks to the mast as one concern is raising and lowering the mast with the jib halyard.
I would have suggested placing the original mast step on the Gerhauer mast step using the original as a pattern for new bolt holes thru the Gerhauer using a little longer bolts to match the depth of the Gerhauer mast step. Food for thought

 

[decktosser]

Thanks Dave. I will give it some more thought. Although I do not see an immediate problem with blocks attached to the hinge pins. Raising and lowering would only require pulling the halyard free of the block.

 

[MaritimeOliver]

Thanks to all that answered to my call for help! I like Jackdaw's idea but I am trying to avoid drilling any more holes in the deck. Since I think I only need four turning blocks I am going to attach them onto the pins that go through the mast base. This was done by another fellow on this site (Chris?) and it looks like the best alternative to drilling any more holes than need be. Attached is a picture of how this might work. Imagine that the chain quick links are the turning blocks...View attachment 157347

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to reach out and ask if you ended up taking this approach and how did it work?

I'm thinking of doing something like this for the season until my O'Day 26 goes up on stilts and I have the marina un-step the mast.

 

[decktosser]

Thanks for reaching out. What I finally did was to reorder the mast plate from Garhauer. I then drilled the bottom of the new plate so that the holes in mast hinge would line up with the holes in the mast plate. I then used the original screws to set the hinge and the plate onto the deck. In order to get the hinge pins through the hinge and the mast plate you have to do some drilling and filing.f you do that carefully you will finds that the hinge pins will go through both plates as they should. In oder to get this to happen I had to discard the old pins and go with some new ones that were slightly smaller diameter. I purchased stainless steel bolts that were long enough to go through and cut off the threaded portion of the bolt and the head of the bolt. I rounded each end so that they would slide through the hinge more easily and also drilled both ends for cotter pins. The arrangement works very well and gives lots of options of turning blocks. Let me know if thi is not clear and I will send a picture.