Hello Dave and welcome.
I used to protect the mast resting on the tabernacle with a carpet "sample". I have loads of these, every time my boat passes through the hands of Honnor Marine it comes back with another set. HM obviously get them for "free" from a local carpet emporium.
However, nowadays I have gone all sophisticated.
When I drop the mast into my homemade mast crutch, I then remove the tabernacle bolt, lift the mast out of the way for a moment (very light as most of the weight is being taken by the mast crutch) then replace the tabenacle bolt with a rubber Vee roller in situ. The mast then rests on the rubber roller, This makes it easy to slide the mast forward without causing any damage to the varnish etc. the mast rests on this roller during transit, being tied down for and aft.