DaySailer.org Forum

Currently, my boom just lays on the cockpit floor while trailering, half sticking out of the cuddy. I have several concerns with this. 1) the boom is resting on that thin edge of fiberglass which forms the opening into the cuddy. Seems like over the long haul, this could damage the fiberglass edge. 2) The edge of the cuddy opening could damage my boom. 3) I'm making a cuddy door which will prevent my boom from fitting into the cuddy while trailering. So how do most people store their booms while trailering?

Since I trailer with hatch covers in place, putting the boom in the cuddy and cockpit is not an option for me. On my stern mast support (which sits inside the transom) , I made a separate support for the boom. The boom sits in the stern support and the gooseneck end is secured to my mast hinge. I lash the boom down in the stern when I lash down the mast.

I'll post my pictures a little later after I find them.

John

I've got the aft end of the boom lashed (in my case, cargo-strapped) tightly to the upright mast support and resting on the transom (the mast support is similar to John's, it sounds like, but mine is mounted to the rudder gudgeons with an extra pair of gudgeon pins). The lashing also includes a strap that prevents vertical movement of the mast support or the boom.

The forward end rests on, and is tightly lashed to, a cargo strap that passes across the cockpit at the widest point of the boat's beam. The trailer has two roller guide-ons there, and the main purpose of the cargo strap is to connect the guide-ons and hold them tightly against the boat while it's being trailered. Otherwise, the guide-ons quiver and bonk and leave a lot of black rubber on the sides of the boat. Then the drivers of big trucks, they snicker, out there on the long highway.

I've thought about making a hole in the mast support, which is pretty wide, for the aft end of the boom to rest in. A little bit of foam padding on the inside of the hole, and voila! Tidiness. Some strapping would still be needed, but at least it would look like I meant to do it that way.

Here are pictures of my stern mast support showing the boom cradle and the boom attached to the mast hinge.




John

John, what do you having running through the fair leads and cam cleats on you cuddy roof?

Shagbark, that picture was taken a couple years ago, there is more stuff up there now and a little more going to be added.

The check blocks on my boom are part of my reefing system. A small horn cleat has been added to the boom in a revision to my reefing system with the addition of a reefing hook on the gooseneck. The two deck blocks were originally used with my reefing system, but not in use currently. The fair leads and cam cleats on each side of the horn cleats are for the main and jib halyards. Those cam cleats came off my dad's 1968 O'Day Mariner 2+2. In addition to what you see in the picture there is now a clam cleat with fair lead for my jib down haul, my barber in-hauler clam cleats w/ fair lead, and some hardware will be added soon for the spinnaker halyard. It's getting crowded up there.

John

The special boom holders people suggested are cool. Maybe next winter . . . . But you can just load the boom in and travel safely with it if you pad the contact points. I put an old sock over the gooseneck and nestle it into the corner where the CB trunk meets the bulkhead. The aft end rests on a rag or sponge on the transom and I use the outhaul or one of the reefing lines to lash it to the mast support. I ends up just inboard of the mast top with its red hazard flag. The lashing holds it securely, but for good measure, I usually pull the mainsheet tight in its cleat.