DaySailer.org Forum

I am considering a 1966 DS1 that I am looking at on craigslist. I am confused about the mast step. The owner says that on this boat the mast steps on top of the cuddy. The 1966 DS Manual on this site makes no mention of that setup and instead shows the pass through keel stepped setup. Was this the year of a change? The pass through keel step looks like a pain single-handed. I have looked at the various ingenious solo stepping rigs in this forum. The owner of this boat says that even though his is stepped on top he has still always had help to put it up. I want to be sure that I can do this by myself. Thanks for any thoughts.

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/boa ... 96238.html

The owner, current or previous, has installed an optional mast tabernacle. The tabernacle is a hinge that installs into the mast (the mast is cut in two pieces for this) just above the normal deck level. The tabernacle makes it much easier to raise the mast single-handed. If you do a search on tabernacle you'll find a lot of information about it. A mast tabernacle is not recommended if you plan to keep the boat on a mooring.

Thank you Herb. I didn't understand before that all stock masts are solid and all hinged are after-market. I'm seeing now that mast raising and hinged vs solid is thoroughly discussed in this forum. I will be reading up on that but thanks again for your word to this new forum user. This forum (and the DS Assoc) is one of the reasons Daysailers are high on my list of possibles as I hunt a used boat. David

Chincoteague wrote:all stock masts are solid and all hinged are after-market.

Later models of the Daysailer came with a stock tabernacle setup and hollow mast. My 25th Anniversary DS2 (built in 1985) has a stock hollow mast and tabernacle.

If these are features are important to you, you might want to keep looking.

Just to eliminate some confusion here. All masts for the DS are hollow. The poster wrote "solid" in order to express that the mast is a single piece.

can and is it recommended to fill the mast with foam?
can someone expand on why is it bad/not preferred to have a tabernacle if boat is on a mooring.?

Thanks

Foam filling the mast prevents it from filling with water in a capsize. I don't know if you really need to fill more than a "plug" at the head and foot, assuming everything else is sealed.

A tabernacle is a moving part that can be under stress from the constant load changes on a mooring. Here's a thread about what it looks like when a tabernacle fails.

That failure mode is not available for the single-piece mast.