Building Archway Material?

[ROAD Soldier]

What is the next best material for a fishing/radar archway in Saltwater? Stainless Steel is out of the question it is to expensive. Chrome Molly I can weld myself, Aluminum I need someone else to weld it, or I can make a non-welded one using fasteners. I am leaning towards Chrome Molly but don’t know if it will stand up to saltwater that well. Any one else used chrome molly it in a saltwater environment?

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I went with aluminum.

My neighbor picked me up a piece of scrap 4"x1" channel 20' long.

I used my saws all to cut out wedges of the channel sides. This let me fold it into the desired shape without cutting the main outside of the channel. I made the 4 main bends to create the shape and two more small ones near the bottom to conform to the slight inner angle of the transom sides. I braced it up with wood and my neighbor welded up the joints at the bends as well as attached the ears for the mast carrier roller. I then spend some time with a grinder smoothing out all the welds and cleaning up the exterior to a reasonably good looking finish for what was a piece of scrap metal.

One nice thing about the aluminum arch is even though it is built out of fairly beefy material it is very light. Also being aluminum it requires no finish at all. It was easy to drill and attach all the peripheral fittings once I had it drilled and mounted inside the transom.

I mounted it with 3 - 3/8" SS bolts on each side with a matching piece of scrap aluminum inside the transom as a backing plate.

http://home.comcast.net/~duane.dunn/ima ... CT0002.JPG


http://home.comcast.net/~duane.dunn/ima ... CT0003.JPG


http://home.comcast.net/~duane.dunn/ima ... CT0150.JPG


http://home.comcast.net/~duane.dunn/ima ... CT0033.JPG

[Night Sailor]

I made mine in stainless steel 1" rail tubing with stainless steel rail fittings to shape, mount and reinforce it. I mounted my backstay, two 50 watt solar panels and vhf and cell phone antennas on it. Total cost around $140.

I did not rely on just set screws to hold the tubes together or in the fittings, but throug bolted joints and critical stress areas. Through bots are stainless 1/4"x 28 thread with nylock nuts. IT works great and is high enough not obstruct visibily sittin or standing at the helm, and so you can walk off the stern without stooping. It's low enough that the mast does not ride on it in the lowered position because I've extended the stock aft mast resting post on the helm station.

Sorry, no pictures until I get time to make and post them.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

To give you an idea of the height and size of mine, my bimini has 6'2" headroom inside when standing on the upper step at the helm. I specifically designed the arch to carry the mast above this when trailering so I would not have to fold the bimini down ever. It can just be zipped up in it's boot.

My '96 had the old style transom mounted mast carrier which didn't work well and I didn't want to mess with any kind of pedestal mounted mast carrier. There is already to much stuff at the pedestal to begin with. My arch's primary job is to be a mast carrier, secondary is mounting all the other stuff; VHF Antenna; GPS Antenna; Anchor Light; Lifesling; Lifering; Propane BBQ; BBQ table; Dinghy Motor Lifting Arm; and 400' shore tie spool. Someday it may also have TV antenna, solar panel, and maybe even radar.

Standing out back on the transom there is well over 7' headroom.

[RickJ]

... I mounted my backstay ...

Night Sailor - can I ask, do you have a fixed or adjustable backstay?

My X has a SS arch (fitted by a PO), it's one-piece formed tube, at least 1", and I thought about moving the backstay to top centre. The backstay has an adjuster, and currently is attached to the original position.

But my impression from swinging on the arch is that it isn't really rigid enough to take the pull of the backstay, especially if tightened hard.

I just wondered what your experience was?

Cheers

[bastonjock]

Electricians ducting,its plastic,strong and comes with pre manufactured bends,so if you buy one lenght of either 1 inch or 2 inch square ducting they come in 10ft lenghts over here and 4 ,45 deg bends,you could make an archway in minutes.

If you are familiar with working using pastic ducting,you can manufacture the bends yourself,it also comes with a lid.

very easy stuff to work with,you can also find it in mild steel but i would stick with the plastic,and if you felt the need you could beef it up with running a piece of cheap mild steel flat bar on the inside,the lid will cover up a multitude of sins and the truncking is white so it fits in with the boat colour

[Night Sailor]

rickj wrote:
"Night Sailor - can I ask, do you have a fixed or adjustable backstay?"

I have a 1/4" turnbuckle on the backstay. I'm not into adjusting backstays for highest performance on some points of sail. As a lifelong died in the wool cruiser I'm more interested in comfort and simplicity of operation. I'm damn glad to be rid of the hole for the back stay in the 6'2' bimini top!

I used my 210 lbs to bounce up and down on the horizontal cross tube of the arch and I'm satisfied it will perform as intended for any load put on it with the sails I use and wind conditions I will encounter while under sail. I do make a practice of reefing or furling as soon as any question appears as to sail area for future conditons. I'm more relaxed that way and I've never had a landlubber guest get sick....

My back stay tension is just enough to take out most of the sag. I don't do a lot of downwind work single handed. Maybe I would with an auto pilot. When I am going solo I usually gybe rather than go forward and set up a whisker pole for the genny or raise and lower the asymm. Part of that is that, I must admit I'm not as quick or agile as I used to be... after all, the Social Security Admin. labels me elderly, although I'm still 27 in heart and mind. And even after 47 years together, the Admiral says she still wants me to come back home in one piece...... and I don't think she's worried about losing the boat....

With crew though I will set the pole for wing and wing or use the asymm. It does not change the mast bend enough I can tell and the arch pipe only bends only about 1/8th in. in ten to 15 mph winds. Which is the max I woud use the asymm or pole for reasons stated above.

[mackatt68]

For those X owners that have added an "archway", did any of you give any thought to mounting a traveler on it ala Hunter?

[Night Sailor]

mackatt68
I wanted the arch higher than the boom for 6'2" headroom at the helm, so that isn't possible, even if the boom were long enough to reach the stern, which it isn't by about 4'.

However, after I install the custom dodger and bimini I"m making I'll consider one final time if I want to have an arch for a traveler just below the boom and over the helm, which would also support the dodger/bimini extension to make a full cockpit enclosure. I don't think so, as I think in inclement weather if I really had to leave anchor and travel, I'd prefer to just tie the boom over to the side, erect a full enclosure and proceed under power.

[Frank C]

For those X owners that have added an "archway", did any of you give any thought to mounting a traveler on it ala Hunter?

If you spend a half-hour in your cockpit with a tape measure, you'll see some definite problems with the traveler idea. Measure how high you want your arch (~6 feet headroom) and compare that with the boom height. Consider also, you need at least 15 inches clear between top of traveler track and bottom of boombail . . . space to clear the track & car, and the mainsheet tackle.

All accounted for, you'll need to raise the aft-boom by at least 2 feet, which would require recutting the mainsail. You could raise the gooseneck to gain some of that space, but trying to raise the gooseneck by 24 inches would significantly raise the sail's center of effort, causing a notable change in heeling moment.

A sailmaker told me it's feasible to design a mainsail for a rising boom angle without destroying the basic balance of the sailplan. But it's not feasible to lift the entire boom by that much.

[RickJ]

I'm not into adjusting backstays for highest performance on some points of sail.

I do like to be able to bend the mast and flatten the sail a bit, esp. when pointing, though I haven't yet sailed this particular boat so I'm not completely sure how much difference it will make! (Plan is to get it on the water by the end of the month.)

It has what I think is the factory-option tensioner, a pair of 3-way blocks (6:1) identical to the boom vang. I just measured the tube the arch is made from, it's 30mm od (about 1"3/16) and will take a lot of load, though because it's about 7' high there's a fair bit of flex at the top in the back/forward direction. I was thinking this could be a problem, but looking more carefully at the angle of the backstay the pull is not really far off vertical so I think it could work.

It's a mod that can wait a while . If I do it I'll probably get a new shorter backstay made up, then I'll still have the original both as a spare, and in case the idea doesn't work too well.

Cheers