A mast support that fits on the bow pulpit

N41EF · Post by **N41EF** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:33 pm

Was a beautiful daytoday in Carolina, 76 and sunny, so I spent time outside with the boat. I built a wooden bracket to support the forward mast when trailering.

Started by cutting a 2x4 26 inches long, it overlapped each side by about 4 inches at the point where the pupit downtubes go. I layed it in place and marked where the tubes for the pulpit go, then glued and screwed it to another piece 26 inches. I set my circular saw to cut just to the thckness of a 2x4 and I cut the pieces out where the rails set. long:

I cut a cardboard templet out to hold the mast, and transfered it to a 2x4 with the grain horizontal, I scalloped the sides just to make it look good, and used a jigsaw to cut it out. I pre-drilled holes and screwed it to the top centered.

I had some DIN rubber laying around from my submarine days:

So I cut strips to put where it will contact the rails and a small square where the mast will sit.

I'll put a coat or two of primer on it and a coat of the blue bottom enamel I will use. I saw someone else had made one similar, just thought I'd share my methods.

Used almost a whole 2x4x8 a handfull of drywall screws and some wood glue.

Kevin Dreher · Post by **Kevin Dreher** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:59 pm

nice, i am thinking i am going to have to build one of these. thanks for posting

astrorad · Post by **astrorad** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:45 pm

Thanx for the top quality posting on your work....really nice job and good ideas...now I know what to do to mine when I get the time...lol

LeatherneckPA · Post by **LeatherneckPA** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:05 am

Very nicely done. I have only one suggestion. It would be nice if you re-sized your photos to a 640x480 size before posting. That will stop folks from having to scroll back and forth across the screen to see the whole photo.

Some of the "experts" here have a way of embedding thumbnail photos that expand and open in a new tab instead, but I don't know how to do that one yet. Maybe I'll have to learn that method.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:50 pm

Love the concepts and workmanship - good job! When I make one I would like to add:

1) a means of securing it to the pulpit so even severe bumps can not dislodge it.

2) a hinged matching top portion to close over the mast and keep it captured. As it is I would still be lashing the mast to something to keep it from moving (our roads are not necessarilary straight in Colorado).

And now, I need something similar for the stern pulpit as well.

Paul

N41EF · Post by **N41EF** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:33 pm

My intention is to throw a ratchet strap over the mast and run it toe rail to toe rail or from the eyelets on the pulpit. A similar strap going over the stern to hold it down. I'm re-doing the stern holder as well, will post pictures when I do it. Mine clamps to the outboard bracket and sticks up to trailer the mast and to hold it up when I raise or lower the mast.

tgentry · Post by **tgentry** » Tue May 28, 2013 10:02 am

That's very close in concept to what I built for Copacetic, but yours is much nicer. I added a bottom board attached with carriage bolts and wing nuts to lock it to the bow pulpit, and attached a strap to fasten the mast to the carrier. It works really well.

I have a similar setup for the stern, but I added some pipes to elevate it so it would clear my solar panel during mast raising, and put on a keel roller to make moving the mast back and forth during mast raising easy.

Capt. Bondo · Post by **Capt. Bondo** » Wed May 29, 2013 8:58 am

Here is another variant. Since I use my mast to support the tarp during the winter I trimed the bracket to not chafe the tarp, also added a mid-mast support that slides into the mast step.