Since I was including a mess of photos in my posts, I deliberately reduced the file sizes. If you wish copies of the originals I can e-mail them to you, but I don't live in DSL land, so I like to keep my e-mail attachments down to a manageable size. Let me know if you are interested in a couple of enlargements, and I will e-mail them to you. However, keep in mind that most of the photos in this thread are cropped from larger photos, so the detail will be only so good in the photos that I send. I am not working with a digital camera. The images are on a floppy. They aren't 1 MB files to begin with. So a few of those posted, if not most of them, are already as good as it gets.
Regarding mast electric wires, they emerge from the deck a few inches in front of the mast, and join the mast above the wood block in the mast base. I don't think I would do it any other way.
The deck below the mast was strengthened with epoxy when the mast step was replaced, so that area is more or less solid...or so I was told.
This photo shows the mast base from the stern. You can see the mast wires coming from the deck and entering the mast. The brighter stainless steel and teak flange unit is one of my design. The device provides attachment points for up to six blocks, and does not interfere with the operation of the tabernacle. It is attached to the mast step by three bolts and lock nuts, which are inserted through matching holes in the original mast base flange and the flange on the device whish is welded on at the same angle. The through bolted teak backing plate adds additional support.The bolts that run into the teak backing plate runn all the way through it with a securing nut on the outside of the opposite flange.
My objective was to get the blocks high enough that they would not beat on the deck, and so that the halyards and downhaul and other lines could be run back to the cockpit without rubbing on the edge of the higher part of the trunk cabin. I looked at a few other Ariels and never saw a solution that I liked that didn't required more holes in deck, so I designed my own.
The less bright SS vertical plate and the lower original flange are evident in the photo. The bolt on which the mast base rotates runs through this plate.
Last edited by Scott Galloway; 09-02-2003 at 11:21 AM.
Reply With Quote