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I've got set these 6 HUGE brake drums from a big rig for a mooring for my other boat this weekend so I pulled my rig off my weekender so that I can use it to move them one at a time without worrying about lines and stays and weight aloft making the boat tippy. Also, I'm going to hollow out the mast some and change the way the mast hinge works before I put the rig back on.. The fence hinges always scared the hell out of me during that time after you put the hinge pin in and before you have the forestay hooked up.

  HOLY CRAP! The mast stump was so stuck! It slipped right in when the boat was new and all the wood was fresh from the lumber yard but last night it was stuck like chuck and I had a hell of a time getting it out.

  So if you have to remove your mast stump, here is what worked really well for me.

  Wiggling it by hand while someone else pulled up moved it about 1 inch in 30 minutes of wiggling. I almost gave up in frustration.

  I put the boat under my oak tree and wrapped a line around the mast stump and over a very thick branch and tied it tight. Then I pulled the trailer forward a bit with the truck to add more pressure to the line. Wiggling the mast stump again by hand didn't produce the best results but it did move 2 inches in 15 minutes this time. What really worked well and didn't make me exhausted was to "gently" tap the mast stump with a 5lb hammer which caused it to wiggle and the upward force of the line over the tree branch helped to pull it up as it wiggled. It still took 2 hours total to get the stump out 

  Of all the things I have neglected on my boat, cleaning water out of the forepeak is probably the most neglected so I was very pleased to NOT see any signs of rot in the mast box and my big silver coin is still sitting mostly pretty at the bottom of the box.

Speaking of the mast hinge, one thing that worried me along with the strength issue was the fact that all of the hinges I found would not bend back past 90 degrees.

I used "gate hinges" with a 1/2" rod as a pin instead.  Since my mast is "built" I was able to There's a fair bit of slop to them though and it was tricky getting them to align as a unit.  The smaller door hinges on the front of the mast were found to be too weak and were replaced.

This has been a major topic of discussion on this board in the past.  I know that Ryerson Clark and Paul Riccelli have strong feelings about the mast box becuse of rot issues, and they won me over.  I used a tabernacle system completely sealed from the forepeak.  No chance for water iunder the deck.  It's basically identical to Ryerson's tabernacle on Sans Souci.  Check out his website for photos.  Here's a schematic:
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Dave

Andrew, Initially the hinge on the front wasn't my biggest problem. It was the back hinge. Over time, the parts of the hinge which go around the pin expanded slightly. It didn't take much expansion to make the whole rig very sloppy, especially side to side slop. That side to side slop helped expand both the hinges even more which made it sloppy back to front. It took a couple years to get as bad as it is now but... there has to be a better plan. In addition to the expansion of the hinge, the brass pin in the back bent a little bit. Probably from bouncing down the road to and from sailing adventures which contributed to the general sloppyness of the hinges.

  I'm gonna ditch the whole hinge scheme and go with a less pretty but more sturdy pinned tabernacle type setup.

  That is if I can get the weight of the whole rig reduced to something I'm happy with. If not, I have a line on an old hobie mast which I can cut to size. I bought an old (very old) sailboat on craigslist a few months back from the local sailing club and I joined the club as a result, it turns out they have some spare parts laying about.

  My tarp sails are also worn out. The jib ripped last trip and the main is shedding bits of tarp fluff and getting kind of thin. I'm still very impressed with tarp sails, for $100 they lasted three years and perhaps 75 sailing trips. I did the kit from That guy who sells tarp sail kits .. hmnn, I forget what the guy calls himself polytarp something or other. Someone gave me some dacron sails last year and I'm going to cut them up and make new sails for my weekender.

Greetings Andrew,

(12-18-2009, 07:22 AM)Andrew_Butchart link Wrote: [ -> ]Speaking of the mast hinge, one thing that worried me along with the strength issue was the fact that all of the hinges I found would not bend back past 90 degrees.

All of the hinges I have seen bend through 270 degrees.  And now for the silly question ... did you install the hinges backwards?  If so, you will only get the 90 degree bend side of the hinge instead of the 180 degree side.

Cheers,
Tom

          Hi all, I am not ready for the hinge thing yet, but I have been giving it some thought,
I intend to put the tabernacle above the height of the lowered main sail. Home Depot have a really strong hinge if installed backwards it gives me about 120 degrees. On the front of the mast I don't like the idea of using a hinge, instead I am thinking of making a 1/8" steel box to go around the mast. So when I raise the mast the box will drop down over the hinge and the joint. I think I should be able the raise the sail over the setup.

                          Any thoughts Keith

Under use the mast is well supported by the shrouds and the forestay.  The primary purpose of the hinge in front of the mast is simply to hold the mast while you attach the forestay.  The biggest challenge is simply getting the mast raised without it swinging out to the side to rack the hinge(s).  That is more a case of learning how to do it in a striaght line rather than fighting with it.  A door hinge isn't strong enough to accomplish that and under abnormal stress will break the tabernacle apart as well as the hinge.  The heavy duty #10 Galvanized hinges or the stainless version of them work well.  They have the swing necessary to bury the hinge nuckle inside the mast and have a clean mast to raise and lower the main. 
There are lots of other ways to do it, this is a simple, uncomplicated and reliable way that works. 

My two cents worth. build the tabernacle, throw the hinge in the dumpster. The hinge is a quick fix and cheap but all the time and work you have put in the boat I think the tabernacle is worth the effort. Mount your tabernacle as low as you can and clear the cabin when lowering. Make it fit your stump and bottom of the mast ( about 3 1/2") inside dem.  Three holes in the cheeks one bolt through te stump  one boalt through the mast and the middle boalt to pin the mast up.Bud

I Like the way Craig did his mast he took the stump head and cut off the outer cheeks which left  the center piece , then he took the mast and cut out the center and left 2 outer cheeks, had 1 pin for the hinge and the other to hold the mast.
In building ships in bottles this is called a Hinkly hinge, this is how i will be doing my mast hinge.

Why deal at all with a mast stump, mast box, and a hole in the deck to allow water in?  Make a tabernacle out of two pieces of doug fir 2X4's.  Brace the two sides to each other and glue and screw the whole thing to the forward bulk head.  At deck level glue and screw a collar to hold the tabernace and keep out the water.  The mast pivots on a bolt through the two sides of the tabernacle at the top, and is kept from moving forward when the mast is up by a brace that is permanently glued and screwed to the tabernacle sides near the bottom.  Backward movement when the mast is up is prevented by a hardwood block bolte to the two sides of the tabernacke.  This is removable.  This arrangement has proven so strong (and waterproof!) that Ryerson Clark sails without a stay and shrouds!  Here are some drawings:


Dave