Trailering Issues

[c130king]

Fellow Mac'ers,

Finally trailered my boat the way it was designed to be trailered (I use to trailer with the boom and all the lines connected...but this prevented the mast from going all the way forward and being connected to the bow pulpit). Didn't think my old way was probably the best/safest way for trailering on the interstate. And this brought a few questions to mind. Appreciate any thoughts.

1) I can only find one mod on the mod page for a mast support. But it is for an . Would that PVC support work for an ? Any owners have a good mod for a mast support to keep the mast from "bouncing" and "flexing" while trailering? (I shoved an empty Smirnof Vodka box between the mast and the top deck...held it in place with a bungy...seemed to work but does't exactly look "cool" going down the road...and of course looking cool going down the interstate is very important ).

2) What do you folks do with your shrouds while trailering? Disconnect from the chainplate and secure to the mast? Disconnect from the chainplate and the mast and store below? Leave connected to everything and just try to secure with bungees so they don't slap around and rub on the deck?

3) My PO fabbed a blue sunbrella cockpit cover. Matches the sail cover and furler cover. And it looks pretty cool... . It secures with about 12 snaps...fits pretty well. But I am concerned that at 65 mph it may flap and tear. Anyone have a cockpit cover that they leave on while trailering?
I pulled it off for today's trailering.

After 3.5 months sitting at the Marina in Jacksonville it is finally sitting in my driveway and I am very excited about working on it.

Thanks,
Jim

[DLT]

1) I can only find one mod on the mod page for a mast support. But it is for an . Would that PVC support work for an ?

Probably. But, I just cinch it down using cargo tie downs, much like what you probably use to secure the aft end of the boat to the trailer...

2) What do you folks do with your shrouds while trailering?

Leave them connected at both ends. In the stock setup, the adjusters will get all kinked up. So, go to the hardware store of your choice and buy two 1 foot lengths of hose with about a 1" internal diameter. Slide these over the adjusters, once you get them set. They will keep the adjusters from getting kinked.

I don't have a cockpit cover. I have a bimini, which folds down...

[Terry]

I can only find one mod on the mod page for a mast support. But it is for an X . Would that PVC support work for an ?

I have been trying to duplicate that for my M but not quite there yet. The problem I see is that the base piece PVC needs to be larger for the M mast fitting, on the X the largest 4" PVC cap easily fits the X plate with two grooves cut into it. The M mast plate is wider and that 4" cap barely fits with the grooves cut on the extreme outer edges of the cap. Perhaps if I could find a wider diameter pipe & cap, say 5-6" it would be a go, but the 4" size is just a bit small, still searching.

[Frank C]

... Perhaps if I could find a wider diameter pipe & cap, say 5-6" it would be a go, but the 4" size is just a bit small, still searching.

Why does it need to straddle the mast step? Could you just use a 4" union that sits flat on the step? Could the pipe itself just be secured by a hole for the mast bolt?

Could you just wrap a heavy-duty bungee from the mast bolt, across the top of the mast ... provides only one-way damping, but I don't bother to damp my mast at all.
Where's the beef?

[Terry]

Could the pipe itself just be secured by a hole for the mast bolt?

Well Frank, that was just too easy & obvious to think of! I was not too wild about how close to the edges of the cap the grooves had to be cut to fit over the plate sides (hard plastic cap over 4"pvc tube adds solid base) and it needs to straddle to hold it in place, I just didn't think about using the mast bolt to hold it in place as well, great idea, I'll be back to Home Depot this weekend. Funny thing is I currently tie a line through that bolt and up over the mast for one-way damping. It just seems like a long stretch from the bow back to the stern to hold that mast in place and keep it from bouncing in the center without a center fixture.

[baldbaby2000]

Jim,

Here's how I support my mast
It's good to have a support or the mast bounces a lot. One thing I added after snow on my cover caused the PVC drain pipe to slightly buckle was to add a 2 X 4 piece inside the pipe to give it more strength.

When trailering, I leave the shrouds connected to the chain plates but I remove one of the spreaders. This makes it a lot easier to move the mast forward and helps avoid bending the spreaders. I leave the furler attached and use a spinnaker pole to support the part extending forward of the bow pulpit.

BB

[c130king]

BB,

Thanks for the mast support info. I think I will try my hand at building one of those. Doesn't look too complicated. Even a non-handy guy like me might be able to handle it. Now remind one more time is the screwdriver the twisty thing you and the hammer the thing you hit your thumb with or is it the other way around?

I have not looked closely at the spreaders. Are they held in place by bolts so that they can easily be removed for trailering? For the trip yesterday I just gathered up as much of the shrouds and the foresail sock halyard as I could and bungeed it to the mast. Seemed to work.

DLT mentioned having a bimini instead of a cockpit cover. I have both. The bimini easily folds back and has a blue sunbrella cover to cover up the blue sunbrella bimini top. But I also have a cover which works real well for keeping the sun and rain out of the cockpit while the boat is sitting around. It fits pretty snug and has a bunch of snaps. But I am concerned that it will flap and tear at highway speeds so I removed it.

I might give it a try next time I take the boat on the road and see what happens.

Thanks,
Jim

[Greg]

Try using 3" schedule 40 PVC. That's what I use on my X and it snuggles between the flanges on the mast step. It should work on the M since the mast is a little larger.

Greg

[NiceAft]

Jim,

I bought a pack of zip cable ties. When the mast is down, I gently gather the shrouds and move them to the rear of the boat. I then zip tie them to a stanchion for the life line. One starboard, one port.

The zip ties are fast and easy. I never remove the spreaders.

If there are any loose lines about, I zip tie those also.

Ray

[beene]

Ray

Do those Zip ties come apart, or do you have to cut them?

I can't figure out which ones you are referring to.

Cheers

G

[Catigale]

Ive found if you gather up all the shrouds on my and bring them back they attach to the rear stay with a carabiner right above the companionway with enough tension to stop from floping but not too tight...nice setup.

On a long trip I also ziptie in case the carabiner gets loose.

[baldbaby2000]

I have not looked closely at the spreaders. Are they held in place by bolts so that they can easily be removed for trailering?

There is one bolt that holds the spreader on. After I remove it I bungee it parallel to the mast. As you know the spreader assembly pivots making it a little hard to control it's position when one is moving the mast. Before I started removing one spreader I used to slack the lifelines and then when the mast was in place one spreader would end up touching the boat and I had to worry about that bouncing around an marring the finish. For me and the Admiral it's just so much easier to slide the mast fore and aft with one spreader removed and less chance of bending a spreader. The spreader I don't remove ends up sitting on the lifeline so it doesn't touch the boat.

Daniel

[Catigale]

True for of course, for the spreaders are rigid mount are great for pivoting the mast...

[baldbaby2000]

True for of course, for the spreaders are rigid mount are great for pivoting the mast...

That's right, and the M mast itself can also pivot even after it's secured up front. I usually stabilize it rotationally by running a line from either side of the cockpit to a shackle for the side stays; one on each side. I do this especially if I have a cover on the boat so that the mast doesn't end up getting cocked sideways and bending easier. These lines also hold the mast down.

BB

[NiceAft]

Beene,

In order to be removed, the zipties must be cut!

They are in the boat, and it's too cold to start crawling under the tarp , so I can't give any more info than that. Sorry

They are what are used to bundle groups of wire together. If my memory serves me correctly, I buy them from WalMart in a bag of a hundred. If there are not a hundred in the bag, lets just settle on saying "a whole lot" are in there. They work great.

Ray