Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Here are a few pictures (Pics# 1 & 2) of the Hinged Mast Base / Tabernacle plate that I was contemplating on using.

For reference; the 'Ballenger Spars' part number is HMB M30 - 1/4" SS
I think that Garhauer makes a similar part.

This base will allow you to tilt your mast for removal or passage under a low bridge while keeping control of it. Thiis particular plate will accommodate a Mast that is up to 4" x 7"

This model incorporates the punched flanges on the upper plate as a deck organizer. Very nifty.

This thing is beautiful solid stainless. I intended to use it, but I decided to go with my plain, fixed, round, non-hinging aluminum base as seen below.







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Pictures # 3 on... The final outcome on my Mast Base: (Fabrication drawings posted in the Pdf in previous post)

A few side, by side comparisons with the old base (note the silicone used by some PO), and then a fit test after being acid-etched, primed, and painted with a two-part polyurethane... It is now sitting on a nice bed of polysulfide awaiting the mast.

I gave the polysulfide under the base about 3 or 4 weeks to allow curing Prior to stepping the mast. It is a bed of polysulfide that is at least 1/16" thick which is there to eliminate point loads on the cab itself. This is important as the polysulfide cures very slowly and will tend to squirt out under load if not properly cured when loaded.

I was sure to include a the tradidtional coin for good luck under the mast. I actually added two... One is a 1 (French) Franc piece with the female figure of France in a flowing dress and a nice Canadian (or was it from the UK?) coin with a pretty Sailboat on it. In any case, if anyone else unsteps the mast in the future, they are surely to be confused...

[mbd]

Wow! Very verrrrrrryy niiiiice!

[carl291]

On post 19 photo showing the replated hardware, what is that thing that looks like an offset wrench under the hull ID tag? I bought some used tiller hardware and that piece was in the parts bag I didn't recognise it so I threw it away, now I feel foolish! Thanks

[ebb]

That aluminum mast base is absolutely gorgeous! Lucky Boat!
You came out the egg, as you say, an engineer - how you created such a controlled and sharp-edge curve on the bottom is masterful.
Actually unbelievable.

We have a Grizzly vertical milling machine now in the shop here and Mike has just set it up with a digital controller. I mean I can visualize machining process now that I see how it's done in person and do menial tasks on the thing - but he too would be impressed with the difficulty of producing that curve on the bottom of the mast step.

Since my egg was cube shaped, my method would probably be something like a half-round metal file mounted on a swing arm activated by a bicycle pedal crank and chain and a sort of tilting table that the operator by eye would move into the swing file. The machine would be marketed under the Chimp logo.

Altogether the piece is brilliant

[raymondrains]

Thank you so much for documenting the trailer dimensions. I am in the process of altering a trailer for our Pearson 26, "Zephyrus".