DaySailer.org Forum

My O'Day Day Sailer II has two mast pins but no holes in the foot of the mast for the pins to go through. It looks like the mast is placed between the pins which run through two pairs of holes on this silver plate on top of the deck. Is this how the mast is placed, on top of the silver plate, between the two pins? If so, I'm guessing the silver plate and the pins combined with the stays keep the mast in place. Does not seem stable to me. Obviously, I am new to sailing and this is my first sailboat, which I have yet to rig. Thank you.

Sounds right to me. The tabernacle halves have holes for the pins and the mast is bolted to the halves.

There are two setups for desk stepped masts: one uses a "hinge" where each half is bolted to the mast. The pin for the hing can be removed, to take the mast off completely, or it is put in a the aft position, to complete the hinge to raise the mast. A second pin (forward) is used to "lock" the hinge (after the stays have all been attached).

The other setup is a plate with a bit of track and two pins. Together this forms a square receptacle and one would typically have a square mast end that is inserted. In that setup, the mast is held in place by tension from the stays. If the boat slams into waves, the hull may flex just a bit so as to unload the stays. If the tension isn't high enough, and the receptacle is very shallow, the mast foot could jump out. One thing to make sure is that the compression post below the deck is firm and does not allow the deck to flex.

I used to own a boat that had the second kind of arrangement. Not a DS, but a dinghy of similar size. The downside compared to a true tabernacle was that the mast needed to be stood upright and then transferred, while still upright to the mast step (and then secured). In contrast, a tabernacle acts like a hinge and the mast can be stood up in place (with the shrouds connected and the forestay replaced temporarily by a halyard).

With the track+pins arrangement, there is often the ability to change the mast step location by simply moving the pins to a different hole. Is that the kind of setup you have?

Yes, Greenlake, I have the second set up. My boat has a silver square bolted onto the mast that comes up through the deck. Like you said, it looks like the mast is placed on top of that square. The square has two raised sides, about an inch high, maybe less. On the other two sides of the square are the pins (fore and aft). There is nothing to bolt the mast to. Like you said it looks like I will have to rely on the tension of the stays to keep the mast from jumping off of the silver square. Seems dicey to me. The mast is not square. It is more triangular than anything, more of a three-sided shape. I was thinking about drilling a hole in the mast and in the silver square about halfway between the two pins, essentially have a third pin that would hold the mast. But I'm wondering if this might upset the harmony of the current set up, you know what I mean? If I have the mass bolted to the silver square it might put too much load on other parts of the mast and deck and maybe crack the hull or deck. I think for now I will probably just try to go with what I have now and see how it performs.

GreenLake, there is no option to move the pins to different holes.

That's OK. It's something that's generically an option for these kinds of mast steps, but not required or necessarily present in any particular one.

But we are confirming that you have the deck-level mast step that doesn't have a hinge, but instead forms a kind of "receptacle" for the mast foot. Correct?

Yes, GreenLake, your description of my mast set up is exactly what I have.

Right, so then you'd want to make sure your stays are properly tensioned and your deck doesn't flex (for example when you hit a wave).

I take it you've confirmed that your compression post is sound? Since you appear to have an after-market modified desk step, the previous owner may also have done work underneath the deck, perhaps a support plate of some sort? Good to verify what's there.