C27 Hinged step my set up
A little background. I bought the hinged because the casted base (mush cheaper) would not be available util a mill-run came through the cast house, which could be months. I got the screws at an industrial screw house, Tacoma Screw Products. They had a local outlet near me. I got stainless. http://www.tacomascrew.com/locations.html I had a crane available to raise the mast. I am not sure that was better. It was very traumatic watching my wind instrument swinging around the hall line. I have never raised or lowered my mast using the hinged step. I have heard stories of boaters dipping their mast to get under bridges (in California?) The mast has tremendous leverage. I cannot describe what to adjust for but I do know you cannot just tilt it back. If there is a mishap with screws, I just have a few holes to plug. If I set up with thru bolts, a mishap could pull the whole cabin top off. On some other C27 web site there is an “A” frame set up that I think would work well. There are several testimonies about this frame. The problem with my old aluminum base was that is was “salt welded” on to the mast. The previous owner (wanting to lower the mast for trailoring) just yanked the mast (and mounting screws) right out of the cabin top. If I replace it with the same kind of base I feel that in a few years I would not be able to pull the mast off it again. With the hinged base I have a bolt that can be easily pulled to drop the mast. One other thing! The hinged mast step raised the mast about a half-inch. Doing some trigonometry, this would mean my schroud had to be about three quarters inch longer. I was hard pressed to make the ends meet. My schrouds were almost to short.
