PocketShip.net

Planning a move to a home where the Pocketship will have to go in the garage with a 7' opening.
Meaning that I'll have remove the gallows and tabernacle with each use or put the whole thing in a marina.

Has anyone designed an aluminum folding tabernacle that doesn't require unbolting from Bulkhead 2 each time?

I assume it's the trouble of climbing into the cabin to unfasten the nuts each time? I think a folding or removable tabernacle can be handy for the occasional time you need to clear a garage door (repairs, winter storage, etc). I think it will be cumbersome if done each time you sail (removing mast, remove bowsprit, unfasten and fold tabernacle). I guess you won't have a standard gallows, or you'd need to remove it too.

However, if it's just dealing with the nuts, then perhaps you could use some type of fastener or even a quick release accessible from the outside? Some folks have added stiffeners attached to the cabin front on each side of their removable tabernacle to which some kind of fasteners might be added.

In the building manual, John does mention that the tabernacle could be eliminated by adding 6" to the base of the mast and adding a mast step on the deck. As he notes, it will be more of a 'tussle' to erect the mast then. Boats that do this (like MacGregors) hinge the mast and use a gin pole, but they have a sloping cabin front to allow this. I would think this would be a pain to do on a Pocketship on a recurring basis. I have not seen a Pocketship built this way.

Another option, which I have not seen, and do not know if it would be sound, would be to make the tabernacle shorter so it just clears the cabin top. Not sure if that would clear your garage opening. Then the mast can still be hinged and would not need to be removed (nor the tabernacle). Use a crutch instead of a shortened gallows. (Negatives would be: harder to raise mast (more weight above the hinge), mast sticks out over the stern further when trailering, and less room in the cockpit when it's down. I imagine that's why John made the pivot up high and not for some mechanical reason. Others, please point out if I'm missing something here.