I read the following on another forum and have a few questions
regarding same:

"I don't know anyone else doing this and I really don't know why since
it saves money and works great. Everybody should know that with a
metal boat there is no reason to use backstay insulators at all. With
a good ground plane, you can use a ground-fed antenna. Take the
antenna coax, run the shield to the rail (or railing if properly
grounded) and then run the center of the coax up about 6 feet to the
grounded backstay. I use spacers about 2 inches long to space the wire
off the backstay and keep it from flapping around. Most people will
think it is direct short to ground but when you remember the signal is
AC and not DC it makes more sense. If you find one band won't tune
with your tuner, try moving the wire on the backstay up or down 6
inches until it works OK. It's not my idea; aircraft having been doing
it for years since they have such a difficult time getting an antenna
mounted. I am using a MFJ manual tuner and and receive and transmit as
good as anyone with
this rig. No expensive insulators, and no screwing around with
temporary antennas. "

Does this sound like a good idea?

Could the end feed be from the other end (top of the mast) with the
tuner inside the mast (to avoid a wire from the deck to the backstay?

Cheers, Jim