PocketShip.net

Hi all. I am making my tabernacle detachable, so my boat can exit the garage when finished. Two questions ...

1. Is it a good idea to make the sides of the tabernacle 1" rather than 3/4" thick, as supplied in the kit? The manual seems to suggest it's a good thing to do.

2. For a detachable tabernacle, how many and what size bolts do people recommend? Is four enough or would six be better? Are 8mm bolts big enough?

Thanks,

Steve

I think thicker is better. I made mine thicker by laminating 1/4" marine plywood to the outside of both 3/4" sides. I figure the ply helps keep the Cypress from splitting and the extra thickness can be helpful when mounting the hardware (especially the jib halyard cleat, as can be seen in the photos).

My tabernacle is attached with 4 bolts and has had no issues in 4 seasons of hard sailing

Scroll on each of the attached photos to see the entire image - there's a ruler on each.

Hope that's helpful,
Bob

Thanks. That's really helpful!

I did the same thing Bob did with the extra 1/4 plywood. Not by design, but to cover up my mistake in drilling the holes wrong. I used 6 bolts, which is probably overkill. You are coming along on your boat from looking at your blog! Looks good!

Thanks Ron. Yep, we're getting there - slowly but surely. I think I will use four bolts. The manual specifies 8mm bolts for the glued tabernacle, but says to use bigger ones for the detachable version. I'm going to use 10mm bolts. Do you think that's big enough?

I used the specified four 5/16" bolts to attach my removable tabernacle with no evident problems, although going bigger shouldn't pose a problem. If anything, I'm thinking of increasing the size of the specified 3/8" mast pivot bolt to 1/2" this season. It has exhibited a very slight bend when I've removed it at the end of each season. Last year I replaced the bobstay shackle with one having a larger (1/4") pin since the original (specified) pin bent slightly - the larger pinned shackle solved that. The slight bends in each piece are visible in the attached photos.
Cheers,
Bob

Thank you Bob - very helpful.

What I would do is glueing a sturdy "backing" inside the cabin, from roof to bottom.
It seems like a weak spot not only because of the small area of the front wall of the cabin but also because of the down force of the mast on bulkhead 2.
Use extra bolts only seems to make it stronger but also weakens the front wall a bit more.