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Sprite
05-19-2003, 03:50 PM
Has anyone fabricated the mast step in the manual.
I would love to get rid of my wooden one


John

Sprite
05-19-2003, 03:53 PM
I forgot the light mine is built into the mast.
I was wondering was this how they were
manufactured by Pearson and can you get
a replacement for it.

John :confused:

Bill
05-19-2003, 04:26 PM
Not by Pearson. Supplied by Rostand which is no longer in business. We have a line on the school that has the patterns, but will not know anything before this summer.

ebb
06-04-2003, 07:20 AM
Capt. John,
Couple weeks ago went down to Santa Cruz for some sand and sun. Took a side trip to Watsonville to Ballengers where I showed Buzz the sawed off bottom portion of the casting whose remains sit unmovable in the bottom of the mast. Didn't cut any of the mast. The plug is/was a stepped affair, most of it inside with about 3/8s" stepped out to support the mast extrusion. Really a nice casting. Outside is the exact shape of the mast. The mast wall is 1/8" thick. Took it down to Watsonville to be sure. But I bet B. has all the pertinent Ariel info in his data base.

Ballenger, highly respected West Coast spar maker, knows about tabernacles. A lot of sailors have to dip their masts to get into the upper harbor in Santa Cruz, for example. Lot of them use his gear. These boats have to do it all the time and have to lower while on the run. Buzz talked me out of this sophisticated lowering rig because it would have cost around $1200 for the Ariel. And arguably not as strong as the simpler one.

That rig in part requires that the bottom of the mast be radiused. Imagine the strange blocking you'ld need. But you don't have to loosen the upper shrouds. (Don't know about the drill with the aft lowers.)

The hinge step in the Manual and the s.s. one I bought from B. require that the upper shrouds, which are used to keep the mast straight while lowering, be loosened because the hinge is offset on the forward side, and therefore the mast rises a little when lowering. Scarey. The expensive rig has the hinge in the center under the mast. Imagine you'ld want to learn how to do it on a quiet day - with a couple of friends. The mast by itself weighs 71#!!!

Well, The $200 step hinge I brought home is made from 1/4" s.s. (so it's 1/2" thickness OA) and looks impressive enuf to lower the Trans-America building! Bottom portion is flanged upward both sides with five hloes each for turning blocks. B. will be making a new plug for the mast bottom from aluminum block to attach the step to. Delrin sheet material will be used to make up any difference from the original round wood one. And separate s.s. from aluminum. I'm not there yet on mounting the new step but will have some issues with it in relation to the balsacore deck and its smaller footprint. May want to spread the load out. May want to replace balsa with epoxy, etc.

For another thread:
Asked Buzz to fabricate a new masthead fitting with a spinaker bail. The old one isn't all that bad looking (some pitting and wear between the 'horns' where rigging is attached) but since it has been under tension for most of its forty years it was agreed that some unseen cracks or weakening may have developed.

Don't lnow what the costs are but will report later if anybody's interested.

commanderpete
06-04-2003, 02:54 PM
If the bulb and wire connections are good, what you need to get the light to work is a new double contact bayonet socket.

Unfortunately, the standard replacement bayonet socket they sell in marine stores doesn't fit (too big).

I'm still looking around. Does anybody have a source for a replacement socket?

Brent
06-07-2003, 12:34 PM
Has anyone fabricated the mast step in the manual.

Not yet, but it is on my list to do.

Brendan Watson
06-07-2003, 07:15 PM
The first year I got my Commander I replaced the mast step.
I made it out of 4 layers of 3/8'' Okume plywood laminated
together with epoxy. I made a roughly 10'' square by the
newly 1-1/2'' thickness. On one of the sides I marked the taper,
1/2'' to 1-1/2 as I recall, and then dadoed the block on the table-saw.
On the 1/2'' side I left the outermost 1/4'' in place so that the block remained
level as I made the many cuts at graduating depths. When the cuts
were complete sand off the remaining piece and smooth off
the bottom. I cut out a rectangle for the mast step tenons and the
cut the block into a 9'' circle. The step is then finnish sanded and
coated with lots of epoxy in and out. I used the same two bolt
pattern as the original and painted it with a single part urethane.
Five years later the pad is as good as new. Bonded in wth 5200,
it is truly part of the boat, and requires little if any maintenance.
Cheers,B.
Commander#215

ebb
06-07-2003, 08:16 PM
Apologize for the verbiage. I did assume you were refering to the aluminum mast step in the Manual (pg 64)

Brendan Watson
06-07-2003, 08:24 PM
The first year I got my Commander I replaced the mast step.
I made it out of 4 layers of 3/8'' Okume plywood laminated
together with epoxy. I made a roughly 10'' square by the
newly 1-1/2'' thickness. On one of the sides I marked the taper,
1/2'' to 1-1/2 as I recall, and then dadoed the block on the table-saw.
On the 1/2'' side I left the outermost 1/4'' in place so that the block remained
level as I made the many cuts at graduating depths. When the cuts
were complete sand off the remaining piece and smooth off
the bottom. I cut out a rectangle for the mast step tenons and the
cut the block into a 9'' circle. The step is then finnish sanded and
coated with lots of epoxy in and out. I used the same two bolt
pattern as the original and painted it with a single part urethane.
Five years later the pad is as good as new. Bonded in wth 5200,
it is truly part of the boat, and requires little if any maintenance.
Cheers,B.
Commander#215

ebb
06-08-2003, 07:33 AM
The original wood maststep on Ariel 338 (1965) measures:

8" diameter
55/64" thick on the fore
1 1/64" aft
1 3/64" each side

Measuring the depth of the cove side to side with a straightedge: 5/64".
Since there is a 1 1/8" X 4" hole in the step placed fore and aft, this measurement is approximate.
Hope this is useful.:D

check out (no comment, but it does look like the mast and step of an Ariel type.) www.mindspring.com/~ghz/mast.html

Mike Goodwin
06-08-2003, 11:44 AM
Ebb,
It's a Pearson Coaster, 30' I think.

commanderpete
06-11-2003, 09:20 AM
Looks like I was wrong about the light. What happened was that the original lamp socket had corroded so badly that the metal fused to the inside of the light housing. That's why the replacement socket wouldn't fit. I ended up grinding it out and popping in the replacement. Cost about $5.

I didn't wan't to replace the whole light with a new piece-of-crap Perko light.

On the mast step, I ended up coating my step with multiple layers of fiberglass and painting it. If you're thinking of having a metal one fabricated, I would give some consideration to going with a tabernackle. These boatyards charge alot of money to step/unstep the mast.

French
06-11-2003, 10:42 AM
a Home made system...

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/TedsSailingPage/Mast_Raising.html

Al Lorman
06-11-2003, 11:59 AM
Mike:

It's a Pearson Renegade. It lives in the same marina as my boat.

Al

ebb
06-13-2003, 06:05 AM
That there Renegade mast looks like a toothpick compared to Ariel. And it begs the question whether any Ariel's here have an aft lowering tabernacle - vs the forward lowering step/hinge?

As for lowering (it's too early to press the 'search' button, but I don't recall...) I would really enjoy reading and seeing in pictures just exactly what the raising and lowering ceremony is for said Ariels.

I'm particularly interested in what alterations to the upper shrouds are necessary to create the 'hinge' effect to keep the shrouds in tension as guys for raising and lowering.

Personally, having selected the cheap method of lowering forward and having never experienced this wonderous event, I'm rilly interested in what problems there are in having the mast cantilevered so radically over the bow - whether the pulpit can take the strain, whether a roller or a piece of sheep is correct, how does one release the pin at the hinge, and where does one put the mast over the cockpit? Wouild seem that there is even more fear involved in getting the spar positioned and up again! Stuff like that.

One assumes that this is good to know vs the extortionate yard bills for pulling the spar.

Sprite
09-13-2003, 04:37 PM
What tools do you need to take the lovely wood piece off. I don't
quite have a big enuf screw driver for this one. I was thinking of
copying it in alumnium or stainless and objections.



Capt. John

Sprite
09-13-2003, 04:42 PM
The electric socket on Sprite's deck for the mast is severely corroded. What should the replacement be? :


Capt. JohnD

Mike Goodwin
09-13-2003, 05:26 PM
Almost all marine supply stores sell those sockets, like WEST Marine or Boat US.

noeta-112
09-14-2003, 10:48 AM
Man!! I feel more fortunate with every post I read re stepping the mast.

I take the mast down every season for the winta & while also interested in the tabernacle concept , am quite happy to be able to avail myself of the use of the hydraulic crane mounted at the south end of the Eastport breakwater. Anyone who can push the on button and push/pull a few levers can use it. Combine that with a 20 foot tidal range and mast stepping becomes a very cheap proposition. In fact one only needs an overhang off a pier and some tackle and you could dispense with the crane entirely!

Had a great sail yesterday and had a young finback whale sound directly under us right here in Cobscook Bay !

Fill those sails!


Russ

Mike Goodwin
09-14-2003, 05:12 PM
Taint it hard to go sailing in January with the mast out of the boat?

DavidSpaulding
09-18-2003, 03:15 AM
Brendan --

After I purchased my Commander (#256) this summer, the riggers said the mast step was rotted and needed replacement. The yard made up a new step and sounds like they used the same construction method you described. Looks beautiful and works great.

My question is this: how many hours of labor do you think it should take to do the job? (Yes: I just received the bill 2 months later!

David :eek:

Mike Goodwin
09-18-2003, 04:20 AM
I repaired the step on Commander #105, Sparky. We will make a new one and I think it can be made in 2 to 4 hours.

DavidSpaulding
09-19-2003, 06:00 PM
:(

I got a bill for about $1,000 labor -- removing the old step, fabricating, installing, . . .

David

Bill
09-19-2003, 09:53 PM
Did the yard use the mast step tech drawing in the manual?

DavidSpaulding
09-20-2003, 03:01 AM
Don't know. I'll ask when I request a breakdown of the labor bill.

David