Years ago I took my boat to a metal fabricator and showed him what I had for a mast crutch at the time. What he did was cut my stern rail and welded two offset Ts. Then he took a 1" stainless steel pipe and cut it in half and welded a regular T fitting in the center and bent both sides of the pipe to resemble a hoop. He set up the hoop so that it fits into the two offset T fitting which slants in toward the cockpit.Joe,
How do you have your mast crutch attached to the transom?
He welded a flat flange to a straight 1" pipe and he installed a flange on the cockpit sole near the transom for this pipe to fit into. I made the wood crutch and attached it to the flat flange myself.
Years later I installed a roller in the wood crutch so that I could roll the mast forward or aft.
I had the hoop attached with fast pins and I used to remove the hoop and stow it in the cabin. After a while, I got real used to having that hoop on there and I decided to use bolts to fasten it.
When I first bought my boat, I made up a mast crutch out of plywood, pieces of 2x4s, two aluminum bars, and two bushing connectors from a high voltage substation transformer. The thing was heavy and fugly but it worked OK for a number of years but I wanted something lighter and easier with less work in breaking it down. The welder looked at it and came up with something of his own design right on the spot.
I stow the mast crutch in a compartment under the Port settee and I have a flag staff made of 1" pipe that fits in that T for my American flag.
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