Good Old Boat Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022

Simple Solutions

So far, they have lived up to my expectations, and I look forward to many more years of service from them. Tom Alley and his family sail a 1965 Alberg 35 sloop, Tomfoolery, and are active racers and cruisers with the Finger Lakes Yacht Club in Watkins Glen, New York. He also manages the Alberg 35 User Group website (Alberg35.org). When he’s not sailing, thinking about sailing, or tinkering with his boat, Tom is either scuba diving, hanging out with fellow amateur

radio operators, or (as a last resort) working as an engineer to support his sailing addiction and, if there’s any money left over, send his kids to college. The feet are a single 1 x 4 cut to length, with a vertical tenon placed in the middle. The length of each foot depends on where the support will stand; Tom had to account for deck hardware and other obstructions when making these measurements, top left. Attaching the vertical column to the base by sliding the mortice and tenon together, above and bottom left.

be, then pulling it aft over the cockpit and accounting for standing headroom and the dodger. To date, these crutches have made four transits of the Erie Canal. I’ve also used them to

support the mast while the boat was in storage for one upstate New York winter, and they held up a considerable amount of snow on the tarp draped over the boat without allowing the mast to sag.

Height: Width:

63½”

Height: Width:

28¾”

43”

32”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY TOM ALLEY

The aft support weighs about 22 pounds and is just under 6 feet tall, making the mast high enough to clear the dodger and provide for headroom for the crew in the cockpit. The small vertical chocks help hold the mast in position on each cross piece.

The mid support weighs about 13 pounds and is about 2 feet tall. It’s narrow enough that it fits between two Dorades on the coach roof.

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