Mast tabernacle for a Tiki 30

[Robert Sheridan]

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone has any advice they could give us:

Having built and fitted a pod to our Tiki 30 we can not longer raise and lower the mast without a tabernacle as the pod is in the way of using the hinge on the aft end of the mast step.

We mocked up a tabernacle with 2x4 timber and lots of rope to get the mast up and see what would work and are now thinking of getting a proper one made out of Stainless Steel.  The idea at present is to have it secured on to the mast beam and the pod to give a pivot point a bit higher than the mast's radius above the the top of the pod.  I was also thinking of using a collar rather than a pivot bolt to remove the need to drill a hole in the mast and also to give us the option of not having the mast supported above the foot in case that proves to be a problem.

All advice and suggestions gratefully received.

Robert

[boatsmith]

Hi Richard, Many boats have a hinge built into the mast step. If this hinge pivots forward then it is relatively easy to use the boom as a strut and the mainsheet as purchase tackle to lower the mast forward. You need some athwartship support to keep the mast in colum while moving up and down. This is frequently done using jib and spinnaker halyards taken down to the mast beam. Masts that pivot above several feet above the base are usually of solid wood and the butt of the mast serves to counterweight the mast to some degree. Just my thoughts. Here'

s a photo of our Tiki 30 coming up from aft. David www.boatsmith

[Robert Sheridan]

Your picture is pretty much how we use to raise and lower the mast before we fitted the pod. I was wondering what other people had come up with for a pod friendly tabernacle before taking the plunge.

Our lashup worked OK, pic below, as you can see there was not a lot of mast below the collar to act as a counter weight. The mast step is actually behind the secound cross piece up which we removed to get it slotted in.

ps Please note: warm weather and blue skys in Hull!!! We have a slatted foredeck, what you are seeing is old ply on top of it to stop the tools falling through.

[Steven Straughen]

Question, i know this is an old thread, but why cant you just raise the mast and THEN put the pod on?

[Robert Sheridan]

@Steven: I usually take the mast down every season and taking the pod off is not something you want to do very often, especially once you have it all set up with cable runs into it etc.

We eventually went for a stainless steel tabernacle along the lines of the lash up pictured above. It has turned out to be something of a White Elephant for the following reasons:

1. We are in the Med and you can not dry out which makes the operation much trickier

2. Getting the mast taken out / put in is much cheaper on the continent than in the UK

3. The engineer who made the tabernacle did not appreciate the amount of movement in a Wharram so we have a bit of precision engineering on a boat that moves so it gets out of alignment and is a pig to get set up again.

Having said that, it is very reassuring that if necessary we can lower and raise the mast ourselves.  If I was doing it again I would bite the bullet, turn round all the fittings on the mast and lower the mast over the bow.

[Steven Straughen]

Interesting thoughts on that. Im currently in the process of redrawing tiki 30 plans of my own to modify and stretch her before i begin building. For me, I live near some very large lakes and am a few hours from Puget Sound, so (somewhat) easy trailerability is a must for me. Also being in a northern climate makes the pod a necesssity as well, as trips to Alaska will be happening. This makes me thing I should kit out any deckpod electronics/accessories in either a very accessible manner or go the route you are. 

Appreciate the response, this keeps me thinking and making progress on my redesign.

[patrick lennon]

Here is a pic of a free standing mast we built which can be raised and lowered by one person with out a winch. it is cantilevered. The mast is 30 feet long . Works perfectly.Perhaps this will spark an Idea?

[Robert Sheridan]

One thing I forgot to mention: when the mast is hinged on the top of the beam (which ours was) you can tie off lines to the beam ends to keep it straight as the mast goes up / comes down and they do not need adjusting as everything is close enought to being in the same plane so the lengths do not change.  With our pivot point having been moved higher this no longer applies and we have to adjustthe lines as the mast comes down which adds complexity and means it would be virually impossible to do at sea.

Robert

[Björn]

If you change the mast tabernacle to T 38 style and put the pivot point on top of the tabernacle (e.g. by using a bolt through mast and tabernacle), the you can lower the mast on the roof of the pod. You the need an addition support for the mast at the stern. More pictures you migh fing onmy page.

[Robert Sheridan]

That is pretty much what we have except the pivot point is a fitting rivetted on to the mast, see the attached pic with the mast down and set up for hoisting