Howdy Ray:
Most likely it's a half wave, and as such it should be vertical for omni radiation.
The way it is now, you should have your radiation lobes coming off the beams of the boat,
which means that your transmission, and reception is directed to the left and right, making
the antenna bi-directional, with no, or little power directed toward the bow and stern.
If it is vertical, the power will be radiated equally in all directions

--
SeeYaa Harbin Osteen KG6URO

!sdohtem noitpyrcne devorppa-tnemnrevog troppus I

"ray lunder" wrote in message ...
Is it better to have it at the top of the mast pointing straight up?
It's angled back horizontally under the present arrangement. The proud
vessel is a full 23', the mast top is a little over 30' high, I think.
Thank you.

Harbin wrote:
Howdy Ray:
Most likely it's a half wave, and as such it should be vertical for omni radiation.
The way it is now, you should have your radiation lobes coming off the beams of the boat,
which means that your transmission, and reception is directed to the left and right, making
the antenna bi-directional, with no, or little power directed toward the bow and stern.
If it is vertical, the power will be radiated equally in all directions


Yes - its very important to have the antennae straight up. When I
went though the Erie Canal with the mast on deck the riggers had
dutifully connect the antennae so I could call the lock operators.
However, the radiation pattern was entirely to the sides (and up and
down) and therefore useless. The handheld worked just fine.

The difference between a sailboat antennae and a powerboat antennae is
that the sailboat version has a wider pattern (at the cost of gain) so
that it works better when heeled.