Mast pin?

[larry]

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with a picture and/or dimensions for the mast pin at the step. I can't find a picture or diagram anywhere..maybe I'm not looking in the right place. I work at a steel fabrication plant and can make what ever I need. The one for The Anne Bonny has been broken off and is missing:(. I can ease out or drill out the remaining threads and re-tap if necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bill]

As far as I know, there is no "pin" at the mast step, and nothing is shown in the mast diagrams found in the manual. Sounds like a former owner modification.

[ebb]

This is really interesting, and a photo would be most revealing.
A pin or bolt at the mast base might mean that the mast is/was set up for lowering.
A close up would reveal if the original base casting was still in place.

Finally working on A-338's
and have radiused the mast bottom for a Santa Cruz style dipper.
Which required removing the casting by cutting off 1 1/4" from the mast.

[The radius is only 2" off the front of the mast bottom, which puts the thru-bolt/hinge-pin lower and more forward than expected. The mast sits in its custom "tabernacle" (for lack of the correct word)
which is a NO HINGE high sided channel static plate (by Ballenger) with a riding slot for the bolt.
When the mast is lowered forward it uses the thru-bolt as the hinge and 'rolls" down/up on the tidy curve. The pin/bolt does not go thru the center of the mast section and appears in a lower position than what one might expect.]

Maybe larry's mast had some gizmo that was removed???

[larry]

Thanks guys. I was told by the previous owner there was a pin..that's what he called it. Said it was to help in raising the mast..dunno. It's toward the front where the mast sets and looks like adjustable slotted mechanism.:confused: It's just different set up from what I have seen, which isn't many..lol! I snap a shot of it.. but now I have to go paint for about 10 hours in a booth.

[larry]

Here is the picture of Anne Bonny's mast stepping plate and a diagram of one supposedly Ariel and commander original. Very similar but no cigar unless the drawing isn't specific.80248025

[ebb]

Larry,
So what's the pin
????????????????????????

That plate is the female to the casting in the bottom of the mast that seated in that slot. No pin.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________________
Sent you a PM on our useless system here.
There is no way of knowing you received a private message unless you happen to see
way up at the TOP OF THIS PAGE the word
Notifications.
It will be slightly excited if you have a message waiting. Had one unanswered for better part of a year before I noticed it.
Otherwise it is a meaningless word in a line of same size words where other unnecessary words are often printed.

[larry]

Thanks Ebb. I guess that's why they write books like sailing for dummies!! Lol! Hey I was just going on what I had been told and seen. I was suspicious toward why it was there but the drawing threw me off and the guy who told me was either playing or dimmer than I am. So it looks like I need to clean that out and replace a bolt.

[larry]

Note: Extra big hole in removable piece( at end of slot )where screw/bolt is broken off. What's that for? I suspect wear purposes and to remove for easy installation of mast. ;p

[ebb]

Larry,
First, your mast plate is not the wood laminate type that A338 and many if not all Ariels have.
I'm guessing that it looks like a Commander aluminum mast base plate?

Look at Rico's MephistoCat thread here (in the Gallery forum I believe.)
where you will find pictures of his new rendition of the base for his Commander.

The drawing you have here, in a way, says it all: The extra hole is an extra hole, maybe for an extra fastening?
Only TWO #14 or #16 bronze lag screws keep the mast base connected to the deck. On Ariels they lag into the oak cross beam inside.

Your MAST may have an exit hole for wire drilled in it low near the base. The wire would come out the mast and probably immediately dive into the extra hole in the front of the base you have there. Look in the forepeak to see if you have a wire hole evident.
I would tap the deck around the mast base and listen for a dull sound. Aluminum is difficult for any caulking material to stick to. So the former owner's attempt to fix the thru-deck leaking problem may not have worked here either. That's assuming the center hole was filled and covered over.
You can just make out the shadow of an airfoil section on the step.


There is no book that I know of that has chapter & verse for all the minutia of vintage sailboat repair and refurbishing. Especially detailed for 'dummies'. It will mostly be general stuff with maybe some lucky tips for the reader from actual experience of the writer's. Or it'l be too techical to understand.
That's why this forum is invaluable.
I started out a dummy with A338 - and I'm even more of a dummy now. [sounds like the refrain of a song....]
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________
later EDIT:
SkipperJer's next post raises interesting possibilities. So I went over to http://dan.pfeiffer.net/26/mastwire.gif
google> Re-Wiring the Mast - Pearson 26.
If you get there, Dan's first blueline takes you to a picture of an antique cast aluminum mast base, complete with the mast 'harness' wiring tube. Just for reference, this. This base was mounted directly to the deck - that's what Dan says. So the aluminum 'step' above is a mystery as well. It may merely have been an upgrade for the original wood veneer laminate. The mast shape may be a better clue as to its origin. The load-bearing load-spreading step is absolutely necessary on our balsacore cabin deck.
Our mast has a beautiful, imco, airfoil shape that ALL more recent extrusions don't have. Mast dimensions: 6" X 3.5" X 30'3.5"

[SkipperJer]

All the Commanders were shipped with steps made of wood. The Commander compression post beneath is metal but the step was usually cut from a solid block of mahogany. The hole is a mystery. Does anyone know if the Pearson 26 or the Triton had a metal mast step? The spars were often the same so it may have been claimed from another salvaged Pearson boat.

[larry]

Skipper in perspective of all I've seen and read here it must be either a reproduction or from another ship. Ebb it's solid under and I have seen nothing inside that looks as if there were ever any problems. Knowing what other vessels Pearson used the same 31ft mast or same size mast end male fitting could solve it. Thanks guys for your gracious input I appreciate it!

[ebb]

If that front hole on the step was for mast wire, you might find that hole just forward of the compression beam in the V-berth area. There is no liner, so if it's there it would be in the center overhead. (With some leftover goop, no doubt.) Mast wiring has to get in somewhere....

[larry]

Hey Ebb ,
I found that same step plate on a Triton while searching around the net.. That is a hole for a wire and whoever replaced it onto the Anne Bonny must have put a pin in it(no threads)and sealed it with some type of adhesive. I cleaned it out but it doesn't go through the hull. All my wiring is entering the hull away from the plate as seen left of the picture..Thanks Ebb!