To cut a mast up !

One of the projects I wanted to do was to install a tabernacle in the mast. That way it would be easier to trailer and with one person the mast would go up. But in order to prepare the mast it must be cut. Scary!!!!

A Steel part was designed that would go into the lower part of the mast and it would become the pivot of the mast. I choose steel because of the pricing and the fact that I could get it galvanize in Baltimore that would help with any probable corrosion.

The part was made from a pipe with a 5 inch diameter and 3 feet long. Once up, the mast would rest inside the channel of the part.  The top hole in the part will serve as the pivot point and the lower will help secure it once up. The is another hole going from front to back that will be use to secure the mast with a smaller bolt. I copied the method from my neighbor that built a similar tabernacle.

This picture shows the channel where the mast will go in when raised and the hole that will use a bolt to secure from stern to bow. The part as it looks is already galvanized.

So this is when we first cut the mast. I recruited the help of Capt. Bob Smith of the J22 sunshine who happens to be an engineer, that way I could blame someone else if things went wrong!!!
Forgot to tell he is an electrical engineer, how does that help ? We were extremely careful with measuring before cutting...

This is Capt Bob measuring 50 times before cutting!!!

We marked the centerline in the mast and identified stern and bow.

Are you really sure we will cut there???

            We use the part as a guide and did some modeling before proceeding with the cut.

                         One can see where the center line of the bow is mark in the mast
The smaller piece next to the pipe will be used to hold the fwd and backward motion of the mast.

We were very sure, after measuring we decided to cut, if it came out wrong we would be looking for anew mast as we speak

 The pic shows the lower part of the mast and the part already fitted in with the top part of the mast inside the channel

you can see in the picture the small part that is fwd of the mast and will hold front back sway and its perfectly aligned with the marks we had.

The part will also act as a plate to distribute any pressure on the aluminum mast

The picture shows the pivot bolt already fitted and we are measuring to drill the lower bolt that will help distribute the weight of the mast.

The pic on top shows everything aligns, it seems I wont need to buy a new mast.

This si how the mast looks with the tabernacle in place.

The surgery was successful and the patient did not die!!!

It shows where the pivot bolt is, it will be replace with a ss bolts and cut to size so it does not protrude too much

This will make the lifting and taking down of the mast a one person procedure. No more awkward use of cranes and more than two people to take the mast down in order to trailer it.