Mast tabernacle testimony and experience

[Eastward ho 24]

Hello again everyone.
I was wondering what the general opinions are on having a mast tabernacle as far as saftety and structural soundness? I assume a well designed tabernacle would be just as strong if not even stronger then a typical mast deck boot ( not sure of the terminology, but it's the plate that sits on the deck and the mast sits on that). I'm Pulling the mast down for rerigging and has me thinking of designing a tabernacle, not for the trailerable aspect of it though, I'm refitting my little boat for some long distance cruising and offshore passage making, my first concern is strength and safety and ability to weather any weather. However I think it would be nice to get under the odd low bridge if needed and having a little boat this would open up some areas and canals for exploration. But more so for lowering the mast for inspection etc. in remote places, would it make sense to think of a tabernacle? Obviously going up the mast is cheaper and easier, but since I'm pulling the mast and I'll be reinforcing coach roof was just wondering thoughts on a tabernacle. And I have an eh24 full keel heavy heavy boat about 7500lb. Displacement and not a lot of sail area. I think like 320ft. Any thoughts?

[scotty c-m]

I had a Catalina 30 with a mast tabernacle, so I speak from some personal experience. Yes, they can be made very strong. Big beefy stainless plates, hinges, and pins make it plenty strong. Obviously you need to inspect it regularly, as with all boat systems. The rigging is pretty much the same. The pelican hooks on the aft lowers need to be safetied.

The operation of the mast tabernacle needs to be 100% every time. This is where I got into trouble, only once, but that was once too many. No one was hurt!!. So when you use it, be like Santa Claus - checking it once, checking it twice. Make sure no one ever sits in a location where they will be "in the byte" if the mast comes down suddenly. For example: sitting in the cockpit "below" the back stay. You state you have a 24 foot boat. That size boat is well within reason for a tabernacle. Over about 32 feet, then the forces on the system can be really high. In my harbor a lot of people use tabernacles. It seems, as I watch them, that some of them take a rather relaxed attitude. Not me. Also, it's really hard to find a local rigger here in Santa Cruz, who will install or work on tabernacled masts because of liability issues. You gotta figure that there have been some problems.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I concur with most of the above post by scotty c-m. And, yes, for boats up to about 30'+/- a tabernacle is definitely an option. In lieu of a conventional step I mean. And I had one on my 31' Searunner trimaran, where it made raising the rig fairly easy. Only needing 1.5 people to do so.
Much bigger than that, & things can get a bit trickier. Partially due to the higher loads involved in raising them. But you can find a few 40' boats setup thusly. Which, if memory serves, there's a custom 40'er well described in the Dashew's Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia, vol. II. The boat's name bing Mistral. And the book's available gratis at the Dashew's website SetSail FPB » Free Books

[capt-couillon]

Solitaire was fitted with a tabernacle from the factory. While dropping the stick with an A frame and a helper is not a project I want to do on a regular basis, the tabernacle does allow removing the stick without a yard crane or gin-pole.

Safe and useful

[boatman61]

Go for the Tabernacle..

[ontherocks83]

Originally Posted by scotty c-m

I had a Catalina 30 with a mast tabernacle, so I speak from some personal experience.

Man we had a 30 Catalina with a regular stepped mast. I can't imagine raising and lowering something that heavy on a tabernacle, but obviously it can be done.

For a 24' I'd say absolutely. If it can be done on a 30' a 24' should be much easier.

[Pacey16]

If the Boat is set up right it is not too difficult, In Perth West Australia lots of boats have Tabernacles. My Ben lexcen 52 has one and it has a big 4 spreader mast, when the PO raced her the crew would drop and raise the mast on the go using 2 Spinnaker poles and a powerfull Block and Pulley set up. Sorry I dont have any photos handy.

[S/V Alchemy]

I have a steel cutter with a substantial aluminum plate tabernacle (isolated, of course, from any steel elements. The construction of it as seen in the link below will give you some ideas as to how to proceed, scaled for your vessel.

Note the retaining pin forward. Unless the mast is actually being removed vertically by a crane, this must be removed to allow the mast to rotate aftwards for lowering.

The center "pin" on which the mast pivots is in turn connected to sturdy SS threaded rod. The mast must be secured by halyards to keep it in place BEFORE the stays and shrouds can be slacked off to allow the mast to be "lifted" enough so that its bottom (a.k.a. the "butt" or "heel") can clear the base of the tabernacle. I would suggest perhaps the safest method to lower the mast back might involve rigging a tackle on a bridge and running a halyard down to the windlass! Mechanical advantage (and perhaps helpers with lumber and fabricated lumber "keepers" to ease the lowering mast down gently) are key.

It's a great idea for servicing the mast and, of course, for doing the French or similar canals, like the Erie down to NYC, where the boat could otherwise not go or would have to dismast more conventionally. The tabernacle method means that while you might have to rig a gallows aft, all your wiring and the mast itself stays attached to the boat.

Hope this helps. I put mast steps on my tabernacle last spring: The world encompassed: Stepping up, part 2

[FionaJC]

We have a ketch with two tabernacles and I have tried to raise the masts with three of us (note the try), never again. looks simple enough but too much effort even with an "A" frame. the amount to move it from the horizontal to 20 degrees is herculean, It also swings about no matter what you do if you are on the water. So on land use a lift of some sort, crane or forklift.

Ours are setup so that they are substantial. They have cleats and sit on 1 1/2 inch teak plastes on the coachroof then onto solid wood supports to the sole. I would rather have this than the problems, including leaks of the mast going down through the roof to the sole or a roof stepped mast. The tabernacle has some advantages in that it holds the mast vertical as its lifted and I can hide my spare keys in it for visitors.

[CharlzO]

EDIT: I just looked up your boat. With the raised cabin top, You won't be able to lay your mast flat from the hinge. While a tabernacle would still work, now you have to make sure you also have something to prop the mast up from the stern to make sure you clear your cabin top. Definitely would recommend an A-frame setup to hold things sturdy, especially to attempt it on the water. The hardest part you'll have, would be if you wanted to unhook the mast from the step and lay it bow to stern, because there's going to be a lot overhanging your stern, and it won't be very steady. In my opinion, it would be fine for traversing a bridge (assuming that the angle the mast would rest would still keep the height down - I didn't do the math on that), but that would be it. I wouldn't want it hinged and laying down for any extended time.

[bruceb]

Make it strong and pay close attention to the stabilizing wires, then they work great. I have a 33'tri with a 40' 300 lbs mast, and I could do it single handed if necessary although for safety concerns I like to have a couple of helpers. A friend has a C&C Mega 30 that uses a "A" frame type set up, from the factory. It also works very well.
Design of the "catching" support aft is almost as important as the tabernacle, the further aft it can be installed makes controlling the lowered mast easier, and a good roller helps with moving the spar forward on to the boat. (assuming you drop it aft) Some boats drop forward so the boom is easy to use as a raising pole, but mostly where the mast is not lowered all the way. (like "dipping" to go under a bridge).
As a thought, build your system but first try it with a short and light dummy pole instead of the mast and work out all the kinks, them when you install and raise the actual mast, it should go well.
My photos are on land, but it works just as well on the water. If you are in an area that has some Corsair trimarans, go watch them launch. Many trailer and set up their masts every time they go out.
B

[TrentePieds]

With the Estward Ho I see two considerations that need to be though about carefully:

The hinge pin in the tabernacle needs to be high enuff above deck that the spar will lie horizontal ABOVE the deckhouse when lowered aft. That means that the pin has to be, say, 2 feet above the coach roof. That has implications for the engineering of the tabernacle and for its anchoring to the structure of the boat, given that there will be thwartships racking forces on the tabernacle when the mast is being lowered and raised. Think "moment arm".

The spar on the EH24 is about 30 feet long, and the truck will therefore be some 12 or 15 feet aft of your transom when the spar is lowered. You will need to get at the truck by using your dink or by being appropriately secured alongside in order to reach it.

You are hoping to set this up for singlehanded operation. Therefore, if I were you, I would not rely on only the forestay taken to a single gin pole and thence by a handy billy to the stem fitting for raising the mast. Because there will be no twartships control of its movement until it is up and shrouds reset, you really need sheer-legs to control it. That means carrying two extra spars for that purpose, although with a little thinking it might be possible to adapt the boom to be one of them. The sheer-legs need to have hinge fittings/attachments of some sort at an appropriate place on each rail

The hinge pin in the tabernacle needs to be stout enuff to take in shear the compression forces of the mast when stays and shrouds are under full tension plus the compressive loads generated by the sailing. Wedging under the heel could relieve the pin, but things begin to get complicated.

It can be done, but hardly worth the effort for the sake of doing maintenance at the truck. You can do that by climbing (safely). However, whether your proposed modification is worthwhile overall depends on badly you want to go under low bridges.

Where I sail there is only one low bridge I ever want to go under. And it's a lot easier just to take the two hours to go around it :-)

TrentePieds

[pcmm]

If you can actually find a sailboat with a proper tabernackle, they're great, but 99.99% of small sailboats today are not fitted with one, they have a mast hinge which is far weaker. a Tabernackle has both a hinge bolt and a securing bolt, lowering the mast with a tabernackle gives you control all the way down as the sides ot the tabernackle support the mast the whole way.

Here's and example of one;

https://tridentlottie.files.wordpres...tabernacle.jpg

[bruceb]

KISS
There is no need to over engineer either on a boat this size. The mast certainly is under 150 lbs and probably more like 130 lbs. With some sort of hinge/tabernacle to control the base, two strong guys could probably lift it and push it up with a pole. Really! I have watched it done with larger masts.
Probably not safe and certainly not single handed!
I never use the forestay as part of the lifting system, it needs to be loose, particularly if you have a furling system on it. Typically I use two forward halyards to/over the lifting pole and then a three or four part tackle to the tack point and maybe back to a winch, or if on a trailer, I use the trailer winch if possible. The side loads should be taken with the raising side wires or a very light weight A frame, the initial loads on the halyards are a little high but quickly drop as the mast comes up. The last third of the way, it gets really light. With an 8' to 10' raising pole, the max loads on the halyards should be less than 500 lbs.
B

[CharlzO]

As luck would have it, I came across this posting for another Eastward. And the pictures certainly show a tabernacled mast.

eastward ho sailboat

If it helps at all.