The poor boat just sits and stares at me now. How sad!

That is very sad....but it doesn't mean you can't post here
anymore....everyone goes through a dry season now and again...
--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein



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OY DP! Welcome back, dude!

d parker wrote:
Assuming you are strong enough to lift your mast from near the step is isn't
that hard.

One problem I haven't seen any of the others address is the mast falling
sideways when trying to raise it. Our trailerable boat had a 26' mast
with a rolled-up jib, I could lift it by hand but the tricky part was
making the step up from the bridge deck to the coach roof.

Our boat had a set of side babystays which I rarely used. These were
secrued to loops on the lifeline stanchions so tha they were in line
with the mast step pivot. I think that for boats without this feature, a
loop of line on each side of th emast could serve the same function.

Run a loop from somewhere not too far up the mast, like maybe the
spinnaker pole hoop, to a block on the gunwhale forward of the mast
step, then to another block the same distance aft of the mast step. Put
another identical loop on the other side. Now the mast is free to pivot
up and down but cannot fall side to side. You could use a ratchet block
to help get it up.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Hi Rick -- I've had good luck with a spring-type mast raiser instead
of a gin pole. It might apply to your boat as well. Here's a link to
a discussion on another board. if you're interested, email me and I
can supply more details/pics. == Paul ==

http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/...x.cgi/read/207



"rick" wrote in message ...
I have found I can trailer my 29ft sailboat just fine and I can wetlaunch
once I get the trailer galvanised but stepping and un-stepping the mast
poses a problem in areas where there is no crane. If I make a tabernacle I
need a ginpole or some way to get the mast through the 20-60 degree angle
where I can't reach it and where the angle is insufficient for the forstay
to lift it.
Does anybody have any experience stepping their own mast?

I have heard that using the boom as a ginpole might work but???
rick

I have a Bayfield 25 and have just completed a mast raising/lowering
system. It uses the upper shrouds to steady the mast laterally, and a gin
pole. The boom is removed and the mast is toward the stern when down,
resting on a temporary support structure.

My mast is stepped on the deck and pivots on a hinge bolt about a transverse
axis. I made clamps which attach to the upper shrouds at the same level as
the axis of the hinge bolt. Each of these clamps attaches to the apex of a
triangular strut structure based on the toerail. The apex is in line with
the axis of the hinge bolt. The mast gets lowered toward, or raised from,
the stern, and the clamps are free to pivot at the apex of the struts. I
have to disconnect the upper shrouds from the chainplates, otherwise they
would be bent sharply. The upper shrouds have only a bit of slack during
this process, so the mast can only sway from side to side about 8". I leave
the clamps on the upper shrouds, but dismantle the struts when not in use.

I use a whisker pole as the gin pole, attached to the mast near its base.
The jib sheet is tied to the end of the whisker pole and cleated at the mast
so that the pole is close to perpendicular to the mast. The mainsheet
tackle is used to pull the end of the pole to the bow, thus raising the
mast, vice versa for lowering. During this process a long line tied to the
end of the pole and run through the bow roller and aft to the winch on the
coaming, acts as a safety device. The pole is prevented from falling
sideways by a pair of shrouds of 3/32"" wire cable attached to the
above-mentioned clamps on the boat's outer shrouds. That way the whole
system pivots about the axis of the mast hinge bolt and the four shrouds
don't get excessively slack at any point in the mast swing.

So far I've used a helper, but it should be possible to do it alone with a
bit of practice.

Frank Stokes, Ottawa


"rick" wrote in message
...
I have found I can trailer my 29ft sailboat just fine and I can wetlaunch
once I get the trailer galvanised but stepping and un-stepping the mast
poses a problem in areas where there is no crane. If I make a tabernacle I
need a ginpole or some way to get the mast through the 20-60 degree angle
where I can't reach it and where the angle is insufficient for the forstay
to lift it.
Does anybody have any experience stepping their own mast?

I have heard that using the boom as a ginpole might work but???
rick

"Frank Stokes" wrote in message m...
I have a Bayfield 25 and have just completed a mast raising/lowering
system. It uses the upper shrouds to steady the mast laterally, and a gin
pole. The boom is removed and the mast is toward the stern when down,
resting on a temporary support structure.

My mast is stepped on the deck and pivots on a hinge bolt about a transverse
axis. I made clamps which attach to the upper shrouds at the same level as
the axis of the hinge bolt. Each of these clamps attaches to the apex of a
triangular strut structure based on the toerail. The apex is in line with
the axis of the hinge bolt. The mast gets lowered toward, or raised from,
the stern, and the clamps are free to pivot at the apex of the struts. I
have to disconnect the upper shrouds from the chainplates, otherwise they
would be bent sharply. The upper shrouds have only a bit of slack during
this process, so the mast can only sway from side to side about 8". I leave
the clamps on the upper shrouds, but dismantle the struts when not in use.

I use a whisker pole as the gin pole, attached to the mast near its base.
The jib sheet is tied to the end of the whisker pole and cleated at the mast
so that the pole is close to perpendicular to the mast. The mainsheet
tackle is used to pull the end of the pole to the bow, thus raising the
mast, vice versa for lowering. During this process a long line tied to the
end of the pole and run through the bow roller and aft to the winch on the
coaming, acts as a safety device. The pole is prevented from falling
sideways by a pair of shrouds of 3/32"" wire cable attached to the
above-mentioned clamps on the boat's outer shrouds. That way the whole
system pivots about the axis of the mast hinge bolt and the four shrouds
don't get excessively slack at any point in the mast swing.

So far I've used a helper, but it should be possible to do it alone with a
bit of practice.

Frank Stokes, Ottawa


"rick" wrote in message
...
I have found I can trailer my 29ft sailboat just fine and I can wetlaunch
once I get the trailer galvanised but stepping and un-stepping the mast
poses a problem in areas where there is no crane. If I make a tabernacle I
need a ginpole or some way to get the mast through the 20-60 degree angle
where I can't reach it and where the angle is insufficient for the forstay
to lift it.
Does anybody have any experience stepping their own mast?

I have heard that using the boom as a ginpole might work but???
rick



The mast for my 8.5M S2 is danged heavy and I see no reasonable way to
use a gin pole. I have stepped masts on smaller boats (Catalina 22,
S2 23' etc) and this is about 10X harder. We stepped ours using the
crossbar on a travel lift as a lead for the jib halyard. It was tied
to a pickup truck bumper which then drove up the ramp.