: Hi John,

: Was kinda under the weather the last couple days, sorry didn't work on the
: mast figures. I would though suggest that since you're free standing the
: stick that you add a doubler in the mast base. Btw a really nice and
: strong step for a free standing mast can be made by wrapping the mast base
: with a few layers of heavy paper, then covering with shipping tape, then
: lay glass over that, several layers. Once cured the whole thing can be
: slipped off the mast, the paper slips nicely over itself, and then the
: tube can be glassed into the boat that will very closely match the mast
: and support it for it's whole length. Did that for several sailing dinghys
: and they work great, just drop the mast in the hole and use the downhaul
: to hold it in place

: Bill H.

That's very timely advise Bill as I will start on the mast step today and I was just running different mast step ideas through my head. I have a 4 inch long piece of inside aluminum tubing left over that I was thinking of using but the close tolerances could cause problems.

John