Widgeon Mast - Storage

[thewaxmania]

Afternoon. This is my first post so far, so thank you in advance for your participation. I just bought a 1976 O'Day Widgeon Gold Medal edition. I had to replace some small parts and a head-stay and I'm pretty much up and running. I bought the boat from someone who kept it on a lake all summer and the mast was always up and rigged. I am in a position of living very close to the ocean/bay but the boat isn't in the water all the time. I have to put it on the trailer, for now, and drive it up the street to store in my driveway. The issue I've run into is that I need to lower the mast and do something with it while out of use. Its got a nice gold anodized aluminum Dwyer mast and boom that has a hinged step (although everyone I have talked to has called it a tabernacle) and a nice little wooden cradle that sits in the rudder mounts for transport or storage. I've also got a small section of mast tubing (about 2 feet+-) with another cradle attached to it that the owner said could replace the short section of the mast that connects to the main hull mount and it could support the weight for a more permanent storage situation.

A sailor friend suggested that I take some of the stress off the mast by shifting the center closer to the center of the boat so the majority of the mast doesn't hang over the transom in no-man's land, putting stress on the mast and potentially bending it. I don't like the idea of having to fiddle around with the main mast mount, which isn't easy to access, every time I want to lower the mast, but I also don't have another solution off-hand that is simple and reliable. My thought was that I could mount a bracket to the front of the trailer, near the winch, with a fork and cradle where the mast could rest in and then the mast wouldn't be stressed much. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions always welcome.

Thanks! I attached a couple photos from the day I bought it that should give you a rough idea of the situation as it is now.

 

[Sunbird22358]

That aft support is the Factory original optional mast carrier, I know how O'DAY set it up for the larger boats (Javelin, Day Sailer, Mariner) but not how the widgeon was set up. Yo uare correct, yo udo not want to keep the mast the way you have it, it is stressing hte mounting of the mast hinge (tabernacle, but for what it's worth, I'd call it a "hinged mast step" another option from O'DAY).
The idea of the forward mast crutch mounted on the winch stand is good and was/is a common setup. Another option would be to construct a mast/boom cradle that could be mounted to the lower part of the mast hinge after releasing the mast. I have seen a neat forward mast support on a DS II that I want to copy for use on my boat in the Spring and Fall when I trailer the boat to and from the ramp. You might be able to adapt a similar setup, however... the one I saw sets on the two bow cleats that the DS II has (Javelin had same, but Widgeon did not).
Anyway, the Widgeon mast only weighs about 20# or less. so you won't need anything too heavy-duty.

I've included a few pictures of forward mast supports, most are Widgeons, but I also included the one of that 1980 DS II. The Widgeon one that is mounted atop a short length of Mast is probably the factory-original setup along with the aft support that you have. I suspect you could adapt something similar that would mount to the lower part of your mast hinge?

 

[Mike Culik]

My Widgeon had the mast support as seen in the fourth picture. It was the short 2 foot mast section with the wood cradle on top. It held both the mast and boom lashed to it as we trailered all over the North East very comfortably. Yes the mast was moved forward up over the tongue of the trailer.

 

[thewaxmania]

My Widgeon had the mast support as seen in the fourth picture. It was the short 2 foot mast section with the wood cradle on top. It held both the mast and boom lashed to it as we trailered all over the North East very comfortably. Yes the mast was moved forward up over the tongue of the trailer.

I've got the same setup, however, its not really practical for everyday use. Its hard to get to the mounts in the hull and I didn't want to have to deal with that apparatus every time I went to sail.

I think I'm going to attach a "yoke" to the trailer's winch bracket and strap it that way. I'll have to find a solution for the boom, but that might just be some bungies. I'm only going down the street to the water.

THANKS!

 

[Sunbird22358]

I basically just bungee cord my boom alongside the mast when I trailer my DS II back and forth to and from the ramp.