New Daysailer 2 owner. Please forgive me if some of my terminology is inaccurate - I just learned how to sail a month ago. My (non-hinged) mast recently got a dent in it and a slight bend when a gust of wind blew it off the boat as I was unlashing it. It was also a major pain to step even with a buddy helping me. It's still sailable, but I'm looking into ways to repair, or simply get a new mast. But that's another topic. So anyhow, I've been trying to figure out a better way to step without having to cut the mast and installing a tabernacle.
I got an idea and thought I'd get some feedback on it. I was thinking that I could build a hinged plank of plywood with the step casting attached to it. Then fasten the hinge to the keel. Essentially it would be a hinged keel mount step. Next, cut a slot the width of the mast on the cuddy roof from the mast hole to the cuddy opening. Then mount another plank of plywood to the underside of the cuddy roof with a cutout to fit the mast. And finally attach some kind of hardware mount (like a U-bolt) to the plywood that could hold the mast in place.
So if you managed to follow my description, I'm imagining that I could then raise the mast using just the forestay. Once it's into the slot in the cuddy roof, it would pretty easily slide into place. I don't ever plan on sailing in inclement weather, so I'm not all that concerned about waterproofing the cuddy roof, but it'd be easy enough to come up with some way to cover up the slot once the mast was stepped. It seems like this would be the easiest (and cheapest) way to be able to step the mast by myself, which is my goal.
Any thoughts? Am I overlooking something that makes this idea completely ridiculous?