Mast support for long road trip with 2004 Mac26M

[silkefelix]

Hello all,

My husband just started driving from Florida home to Alaska with our 2004 MacGregor 26M in tow. Our mast is secured on the railing in the front (with some bolts) and on the mast support rod close to the steering column in the cockpit.

My husband noticed that the mast support in the cockpit exerts a lot of pressure onto the cockpit floor, which starts bending in. Did anybody experience some damage to the cockpit floor due to the foot of the mast holding rod pushing/bumping into the floor during long distance hauling? If so, any remedies?

Also, the mast is currently positioned such that the spreaders (which for a 2004 M go off at an angle other than 90 degree) are pointed down. That way, they take a little load off the above-mentioned mast support rod, but on the other hand the spreaders are now lying on the railing cable and pushing it down. Could that cause problems with bending the spreaders? Should we turn the mast so that the spreaders point up like antlers?

We would not worry about all that if we were to drive only a short distance, but for that 5000 mile journey, we are afraid of damage.

Any tips would be very appreciated. Regards, Silke

[SkiDeep2001]

When I had to haul down some Canadian gravel back roads with some good size potholes I didn't want to go at a snails pace to minimize bouncing mast so I took a 4" x 4" post and cut it to fit across the cockpit and then cut a 2" x 4" with a V notch in it to fit vertically to sit on 4x4 and help support the mast along with the mast crutch. Secure the mast to both supports and side to side and you should have no problems. Pretty quick and easy. Rob PS: You might want to put some padding or something under the 4x4 to keep it from marring the fiberglass.

[March]

I have a 26X. Never had any problems with the floor: only the "crutch" that goes into the steering column (a different system) tends to bend, but oce it is boltet in place to the mast, it has no place to go, what with two lateral straps that keep it centered.
The spreaders are pretty flimsy, soft aluminum. They bend easily. On an X, they are bolted to the mast. It is easy to remove the bolts and let them dangle. What I do is, the railing cables are tensioned with pelikan hooks. I remove the hooks and the cables go limp. No danger to the spreaders.
You can make a "prop" in the middle of the cabin, where the foot of the mast is. For years I used a piece of soft wood that I wedged under the mast. Last year, I spared one hour to devise a proper prop, out of plastic tubing (the wide one, used for sewage) cut to specs, glued together, and set under the mast. I feel fairly confident with that, and lateral straps, the mast ain't going anywhere

[NiceAft]

The spreaders should never be resting on the life lines.

During the procedure of repositioning the mast from a vertical to a horizontal position, while you are bringing the base of the mast forward in order to attach it to its bow connection, your husband should have positioned the spreaders to go under the life lines. The spreaders are very easily bent. I realize that this will require him to stop and redo some work already done, but he needs to get the spreaders under those life lines.

There will be some bounce in the mast while traveling. Some members have created all sorts of supports for the middle of the mast, but it is not really necessary. It can't hurt, but not necessary. There may be those who disagree, and you may yet hear from them. As to the floor bending, I have never heard of this. Maybe he can elaborate some?

Ray

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Spreaders should always be UNDER the life lines, never resting on top. You will bend them for sure if they are left on top. To avoid doing the side to side mast dance required to get the spreaders under the lifelines we added keypin shackles to the lifeline ends in place of the normal shackles. This allows us to slack the lifelines on each side so you can just lower the mast without having the hassle of getting them under the lines.

I also feel the span from the bow pulpit to the mast carrier at the back is too far and allows the mast to flex and bounce too much. I added a simple ABS pipe support at the mast step. This has completely eliminated all mast bounce while towing. It is slotted at the base so it simply slips over the bolt that holds my mast raising pole (this is a X instead of a M and the pole setup is different). It has a vee cut at the top for the shape of the mast and uses a simple bungee to keep it in place. I'm sure a similar support could be made for a M.

[drams_1999]

What Duane and Nice aft said. Spreaders should be between the wire railing and the deck. It is not hard at all to dance it under there if you have permanently installed lifelines. I do it every time.

You might want to add a light (not too tight) line at each spreader to keep it from touching the deck while you tow. My dealer claims that it will wear the deck if you let it touch, especially on a long drive.

My boat has the mast crutch at the aft end of the cockpit over the outboard. The span is farther and I do notice a bounce on the mast when I am on the road. However, I don't worry about it since the deflections are within the elastic range of the mast (i.e. it returns to its original shape every time). Besides, I have never heard of a mast being damaged because it was boucing in this manner (although we might hear others chime in that have heard otherwise). It certainly won't hurt anything to add a support in the center as has been suggested. I am sure you have secured the aft end to prevent it from bouncing off the aft support. I use 2 lines at the stern to be extra sure.

Have a safe drive, be careful out there.

[c130king]

My $0.02 worth is to remove the spreaders for long trips. And yes, make some sort of support...mine is made of 2x4s painted black and the base and the inside of the support where the mast rests on it are covered in black carpet. It is placed up close to the mast step and provides support to keep the mast from bouncing.



Short trips to a marina leave the spreaders on (under the wires) and you don't need to worry about the support. To ease the "spreader dance" I installed pelican hooks on the forward end of the life lines. This way they can be loosened to make it easy to get them around/over the spreaders.

Good Luck,
Jim

[NiceAft]

Here is a photo of Q1's 04 M on his trip from Quebec City, Canada to Florida. click on it with your left mouse button to enlarge. You can see where the spreaders are supposed to be. You can also see that he has a mast support about midway along the mast. Your husband won't easily be able to do this on his trip, but maybe later. No one has mentioned this, but also tie the mast securely onto the aft mast support. That is where the most bounce will be.

Ray

[silkefelix]

Thanks for all your tips, which make a lot of sense. My husband is taking the spreaders off to avoid damaging them and he will look for an additional mast support to put on the mast step. By the way, he now made it to Iowa. Regards, Silke