Need help tightening shrouds on 2" shorter mast

[Mike Dub]

Hi all- We, unfortunately, had a deck/chainplate failure on our daysailer awhile back and the mast came down during a sailing outing. Made for an eventful sail ;o)

Long story short, there was a little mast damage at the tabernacle and we had to saw an inch or so off the mast bottom to make it seat right onto the tabernacle/deck mount, again.

Now the shrouds are slightly too long. I've already used Johnson tension levers in the past, and they're great.
But I'm wondering if any of you have recommendations for ways to shorten shrouds/or tension them a little, by only an inch or two Without having to actually cut them/shorten them.

Any ideas? The old (the boat is a 1975 model) turnbuckle tensions that attach the shrouds to the deck plates (pintles) are kind of useless for really tensioning the rig.
Thanks for any ideas!
Mike

PS- our daysailor is *not our Catalina Capri 18. Her mast is doing just fine!

 

[RichBone]

Put a pad under the mast and raise it the same distance that you cut off of the mast. A whole lot easier and cheaper than messing with the rigging.

 

[Mike Dub]

thanks RBone. Any ideas on padding under the mast?

Put a pad under the mast and raise it the same distance that you cut off of the mast. A whole lot easier and cheaper than messing with the rigging.

Hi RBone. Thanks for your suggestion. Any thoughts on the kind of padding I could use under the mast/on the step/tabernacle for this? Closed-cell Foam? Metal? Fiberglass? Thanks! Mike

 

[Indysailor]

Hi RBone. Thanks for your suggestion. Any thoughts on the kind of padding I could use under the mast/on the step/tabernacle for this? Closed-cell Foam? Metal? Fiberglass? Thanks! Mike

Trex, or something similar. Our old friend Joe "Trinkka" made this mod after his mast had corroded and he had to remove a couple inches at the bottom. So he built up a block out of Trex and fastened the tabernacle to it. Unfortunately, good old Joe has passed away, but he documented many of his ingenious fixes and mods.
Look him up here and check out his album of mods; it's in there.

 

[Jackdaw]

Hi RBone. Thanks for your suggestion. Any thoughts on the kind of padding I could use under the mast/on the step/tabernacle for this? Closed-cell Foam? Metal? Fiberglass? Thanks! Mike

Starboard.

http://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/king_starboard/526

 

[Sunbird22358]

One possiblity is to find a short section of mast extrusion and replace the part of the mast below the hinge. Since you have the optional hinge setup on your 1975, the hinge was really just spliced into a full-length mast by cutting out about 1.5 to 2" of the mast. So, you could just get a new and longer piece to replace the lower part.

Is your boat a Day Sailer II or a Day Sailer I? (If she is a DS I, instead of the cuddy floor mentioned below, yo uhave a fiberglass "box-beam" under the mast step (and a longer lower mast piece) Insert the spacer between mast step and box-beam instead of the cuddy floor.)

However, what I think that I would do is to unscrew the mast step from the cuddy floor and insert a block (wood or Starboard, or TREX) equal in thickness to the section of mast that you had to cut off. Then resecure (using longer screws, or bolts would be better) the mast step and re-install the lower piece of the mast. Using bolts to secure the mast step will require gaining access under the cuddy floor, but after 39 years.... the original wooden piece under the cuddy floor may be in need of replacement anyway.

PS: I have a 1979 DS II and so unfortunately.... automatically started writing based on the DS II setup. I am familiar with the DS I setup too.

 

[kito]

I don't know anything about your daysailer but is it possible just to move the tangs up on your mast that the shrouds attach to? You said it's only an inch or 2. Building up the base sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Just do it correctly and get your shrouds adjusted properly would be my choice.

 

[Sunbird22358]

I don't know anything about your daysailer but is it possible just to move the tangs up on your mast that the shrouds attach to? You said it's only an inch or 2. Building up the base sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Just do it correctly and get your shrouds adjusted properly would be my choice.

Moving the tangs is far more difficult than adding a spacer under the mast step. The tangs are pop-riveted to the mast, and so you would need to drill those out, then relocate them, find suitable rivets and the tool to install them, then you would have 6 holes (If I recall) in the mast that will need to be filled to avoid problems. Plus the jib halyard block would then need to be moved to match the new forestay attachment point on the mast.
Adding a spacer under the mast step is MUCH simpler!

 

[kito]

Moving the tangs is far more difficult than adding a spacer under the mast step. The tangs are pop-riveted to the mast, and so you would need to drill those out, then relocate them, find suitable rivets and the tool to install them, then you would have 6 holes (If I recall) in the mast that will need to be filled to avoid problems. Plus the jib halyard block would then need to be moved to match the new forestay attachment point on the mast.
Adding a spacer under the mast step is MUCH simpler!

I agree now. Actually, the simplest fix would be tying a knot in the forestay and shroud wire