Just bought 23ft O'day Drop Keel Pop Top The Mast has no pin at the base....Please advise on easiest way to Step Welcome to call me 706 564-4253.Robert Epps
Stepping and tuning mast
- Thread starter Robert Epps
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If the mast goes through the cabin and steps down below, I don't know if there is an easy way to step it without a few guys man handling it or to use some kind of a makeshift hoisting apparatus on a raft like we use at our yacht club for setting the pipes that hold our docks and lifting mooring blocks. The only other alternative is to have a crane at the boatyard lift and set it which probably goes anywhere between $75 and $100.
You may be able to Mickey Mouse something out of wood that is "U" shaped and be able to secure it temporarily on top of the cabin at the hole. Then have two guys standing on top of the cabin ready guide the mast up against the wood, while the other two guys are raising it from the cockpit. Someone could be pulling on the Jib Halyard on the ground, in line with the bow of the boat. These are just ideas and I'm sure you can come up with your own. Some guys are fortunate enough to get their boat anchored near a local bridge and be able to lower it down into the hole with one guy on board to guide it.
I set a mast years ago for a Bristol 22 that went through the cabin. I was using the A frame on our club raft. I used a short rope with a Bowline around the mast just under the spreaders with the other end tied to the winch hook. I didn't have quite enough height to get the mast straight into the hole, so we moved the boat ahead a couple of feet and got the mast started into the hole and we moved it back to get it the rest of the way. If you know of someone on the water who owns a similar rig, you can probably have them set the mast for you cheap.
Another way to set a mast like that is to make up some kind of a tripod type Gin Pole and secure it temporarily to the top of your cabin. You could use a boat winch or a set of block and tackle to raise the mast. I remember talking to a guy who made one of these with some old aluminum spars and he used it to set his mast through the cabin of his J-24. What year is your O'Day 23? Your boat is what as known as a keel/centerboard My O'Day 222 has this same keel/centerboard set up.
I hope that I was able to give you some ideas. Try to do this on a calm day with no wind. if there is a wind on the day that you do this, make sure that it's coming directly from aft if your raising the mast from aft. You don't want the wind blowing from the beam of the boat. Good luck!
Joe
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The bottom of mast fits around aegg shaped base...however it has no pin to keep it attached in order to step it
So the mast is stepped on top of the cabin? In some ways that's considered a good set up in that the bottom half of the step is generally screwed to the top of the cabin and in the event that a stay lets go, your mast won't bend in half when it goes over. The disadvantage of this set up is being able to step the mast easy as having a hinged tabernacle.
The guys in my club stepped a mast like that on a Hunter 27 a couple of years ago. They stepped it but they had a heck of a time doing it because his mast was real heavy. A roller furler can make it heavier and awkward. There is no easy way unless you can place a single sheave block off beam on a pole and use a 3/8"X 60' line to hoist the mast up. I'm not even sure if you can convert your mast step over to a hinged tabernacle but I really don't see why you couldn't. You could direct that question to Rudy at D & R Marine, Assonet Ma. 508 644-3001
Are you a member of a yacht club or are you planing on launching from a public ramp?
This sounds strange to me, the 23 had a hinged mast base of one type or other (I think there were 2 versions?). I think a previous owner may have changed this, perhaps he kept the boat on a mooring or in a slip and had the yard step/unstep the mast?
I'm wondering though whether the hinge is there? is that "egg-shaped" casting (a standard maststep) on top of a stainless-steel plate? Perhaps the you are missing the screws/rivets that secured the mast to the hinge base? Picture might help. But, whatever..... Rudy at D&R can set you up with the parts to replace the hinged mast base, or you could check with a local sparmaker. On the Web, check out DWYER Masts. I've added a picture from their catalog, it shows a maststep alone and the same part attached to the hinge plate.
I'm wondering though whether the hinge is there? is that "egg-shaped" casting (a standard maststep) on top of a stainless-steel plate? Perhaps the you are missing the screws/rivets that secured the mast to the hinge base? Picture might help. But, whatever..... Rudy at D&R can set you up with the parts to replace the hinged mast base, or you could check with a local sparmaker. On the Web, check out DWYER Masts. I've added a picture from their catalog, it shows a maststep alone and the same part attached to the hinge plate.
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my 23' Tempest does not have a hinged base for the mast. It is an egg shapped base, on a steel plate, mounted right on the deck. I have not had the mast up, but from what i have read etc.. the mast just sits on the base, and the stays hold it in place. I also have a hole through the mast which I assumed was for a pin. May be that the mast was used for other applications hence the hole.
One of our club members has a Hunter 27 with the mast set up like that. In a way, it can be an important advantage. One of his stays let go a year or so ago while the boat was on the mooring during a storm. The mast went into the water with no damage to the mast. He was able to have the local boatyard do the repairs and he was back in business.
My mast tabernacle is hinged and the lower part of the hinge is bolted through the cabin. When one of my stays let go while sailing out off of Newport RI years ago, my mast landed in the water, bent in half. I had to get a new mast.
If you have a hole through the lower side of your mast, it may have been used for a bail for a boom vang.
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