Mast step and outrigger mounting details.

[goanywhere]

I have been asked to provide details of how I mounted the mast and outriggers on my new yak. Below are pics and explanations of how I went about it. Obviously for any other yak various other means may need to be worked out, but the principles should be the same.


Firstly I had to reinforce the deck where the mast step was to go to make sure that lateral stresses don't damage the deck.
I glued a piece of 6mm marine ply to the underside full width.

Then I drilled through with a hole saw for the mast step to be inserted through.



I then made a keel block for the mast step to be inserted so that it was braced strongly for good support with no likelihood of damage to the hull. I epoxied it into place then drilled and screwed it in from outside with S/S screws, then sealed them with epoxy/graphite.





Next I fitted the mast step. I won't go into all the detail, but I had to space around it with PVC tube because the hole saw was a bit bigger than the diameter of the mast step.









I also reinforced the deck for the outrigger arms to be fitted. I used 6mm marine ply here to, and I embedded a nut into a piece so that it would be permanently in place. (I didn't take pics of the detail of how to do these, but I can provide details if you want).



The outrigger arms then bolt easily into place.



(Part II in another post. My computer is acting up and I don't want to lose this post.)

[goanywhere]

Part II.

The outriggers had bolts embedded into ply wood with epoxy to make fitting the outrigger arms easy. These just bolt on using butterfly nuts.





I am happy to provide some guidance with all this but I had to nut it out for my yak, and every situation will be a bit unique.

This kind of mounting is the best for fitting an un-stayed mast. A through-hull mount is pretty drastic and you don't want to do it unless you are planning to sail regularly. But a sail with no mast stays is the best way to mount a full-size sail in a kayak. You don't have to fit a wing sail, there are lots of sail designs that you can fit to an un-stayed mast and have no need for wires or lines everywhere that get in the way of fishing. This kind of mast step is superior to a stayed mast rig, provided reinforcing is done where needed.

PM me if you want specific details of anything you need help with.