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.
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