Anyone ever seen a deck stepped mast on a Manitou32. Mine is keel stepped and pondering changing to either tabernacle or deck stepped. Apart from reinforcing decking/coachouse ant other probs I could encounter?
most have bulk heads under the mast for support that Ive seen This bulkhead surports the mast
Select to expand quoteDonk107 said..
Hi Featherhead
What is your reason for wanting to change it
Regards Don
Fairly simple Don, age is creeping on and looking at ways to make the boat more comfy and user friendly. Only one of a few changes I have in mind.
Select to expand quotefeatherhead said..Donk107 said..
Hi Featherhead
What is your reason for wanting to change it
Regards Don
Fairly simple Don, age is creeping on and looking at ways to make the boat more comfy and user friendly. Only one of a few changes I have in mind.Select to expand quoteHG02 said..
just hire a pole dancer Feather head and use what you have 
Pole dancers are much more fun with room to move. Extra space enables queen size bed.
There is a lot of compression load from a mast, and not only would you need a substantial beam across the boat, but also the load has to be transferred eventually into the hull. I wouldnt do it, but if you really want to, the best solution would be two compression posts and a beam going across the top. This will transfer the load to the keel as per original. Whether an archway with two posts is better than one mast, is debatable.
I have a deck stepped mast on my boat, My mast section is allot heavier than its counterparts with Keel stepped masts because strength is lost via stepping onto the deck,,, so I'm told. Depending on the type of step, tabernacle, hinge or whatever the design, you may need to find out whether your mast section strength will still be sufficient.
At some stage in the life of my boat a passing yacht that lost its mooring took down the mizzen and Id say it also damaged the main mast step area or at least tressed it .I still have to get some advice what to do about it before the mast is refitted But you can see for your self
My manitou 32 is deck stepped , has a compression post in the cabin . Will be pulling mast hopefully in about 5 weeks in sydney if you wish to have a look . Also thinking about changing to external chain plates as I have nightmares about crevice corrosion with the glassed in ones which are now close to 30 years old . Was on a mates boat and as we sailed under the captain cook bridge I wandered forward and casually grabbed one of the stays to steady myself and the chain plate came clean off at deck level. Don't know who had the bigger shock me or the owner .
Old boy, where the chain plate failed was there any evidence of corrosion such as rust marks?
The chain plates were bolted on the inside of the boat , we saw no rust marks on deck or inside , it was where it went thru the deck that failed . They were mild steel plates 8mm thick easy to remove , we had never taken one out to inspect as we saw no reason to . Maybe if the boat was used off shore we might have been a bit more fussy with the rig .
