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Many times I've seen a mast supported by the lip of the pulpit (ahead of
the pulpit posts) and wondered why the owner can't figure out why the
pulpit is suffering from "droopy lip syndrome." The unsupported lip of
the pulpit is not designed to handle the shock pounding of carrying a mast
while driving down the highway, yet you see it quite often. See
Tech Tip A07. Eventually the lip will droop, which looks pathetic. So how to
restore the droop?
 Bending
the lip takes a lot of effort. You can't eat enough spinach to do
this by hand! You need mechanical assistance.
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PULPIT REMOVED - An innovative technique is to use the weight of
a vehicle to hold the lip down with (2x4)"s placed over the tubing to protect
the finish. In Randy's case the (2x4)" closest to the posts is right where the bend was. He (200 lbs) then
gently stood on each unsupported horizontal to
straighten the bend. That didn't work as the tubing is quite stiff.
So he cautiously bounced on it which did work.
"You can feel the metal give under your weight.
Just don't be listening to the
Bee Gees when you do this otherwise you might go
too far!"
You could place thin lumber under each
horizontal as a precaution to over bending. Be your own judge.
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PULPIT INSTALLED - Another technique
is with the boat resting on the trailer. Jam a long
(2x4)" (or two) under the
lip and down to the ground. Then lower the trailer jack using the weight of the boat to push the lip
up. You'll have to place the (2x4)"s in the correct place to
straighten the lip at the bend. Its going to require a bit of
experimenting and expect to have to reposition those (2x4)"s several
times. Be real careful using this technique since you could damage
the deck by pulling the bolts up. Large backing blocks installed
under the deck help when using this technique.
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And finally you can attach a long wood bar to the
pulpit and try bending it that way. However, this technique requires
lots of spinach and Olive Oyl should be impressed if you straighten it!
There's always another way to skin a cat. I'd
like to hear from others on how you straightened your droopy lip.
Email me.
Good luck.
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