Last November. I brought my F36 to a DIY yard for winter storage and
bottom work. The yards benefits were off set by distance, tolls and
a 55' fixed bridge. But, with a 6' tide, still a net plus.

Come March, I discover that the DOT has begun re-decking the bridge
and has hung a safety scaffold below. Checking the Notice to Mariners
(belatedly) I find that the public notice was given and permits were
issued for a five foot reduction in bridge clearance.

I did not want to remove the mast for a number of reasons including:
inexperience of the yard in handling a Freedom mast, not wanting to
disturb a perfect, non-leaking seal, not wanting to carry the mast as
deck cargo to another yard, and the cost of removal and re-stepping.

My best measurements showed a 55' mast hgt. including anchor light,
with all instrumentation removed except for the VHF radio antenna.
Hitting the optimum tide at my target launch date would give me 5.8'
below Mean High Water and a calculated clearance of 55.8'.
Accordingly, I figured a 15 degree heel would see me safely under the
bridge.

Having made the decision to heel the boat, the next considerations
were how to load, how much to load, what to load and how to rig the
boat. I wanted to deck load as much as possible and keep as much
strain off the mast as I could, while at the same time preparing the
mast for as much strain as needed. I opted not to use the main halyard
but instead installed a choker around the mast just above the fore
stay attachment point.

Using the blocks from my vang and the second reef line I created a 3
part tackle by attaching a block with becket to the choker and a block
to the boom. The free end of the reef line was then rove from the out
haul at the end of the boom up to the choker block, back down to the
boom block and back up to the becket on the choker block. Now I had a
crane with control lines that led through my deck organizer, clutches
and to my winches; Up and Down by the reef line, In and Out by the
main sheet and traveler. A preventer to a snatch block on the bow
completed the rig.

I began loading by filling the 60 gal. potable water tank below and
lashing a 55 gal drum to the deck and filling that. It barely made a
dent, 3 degrees at best. I then decided on sand bags. At $1.75 for
each 50 lb. bag, they were cheap and easily jettisoned. After loading
1200 lbs at the toe rail, I still had only 10 degrees of heel.

On to plan B. I bought a 1 cubic yard bulk load polypropylene bag with
a 3300 lb rating for $40.00 , attached it to the boom and began
loading the individual sand bags into it. Ultimately, it took 900 lbs.
on the boom and 300 lbs. on the deck to heel the F36 to 15 degrees.

Ultimately, The boat made it under the bridge, but barely. For all the
figuring in the world and all the careful prep work, my VHF antenna
bent in half acting as curb feeler on the underside of the bridge. I
knew the height of my mast from an empirical measurement. I knew the
degree of heel needed for a worst case scenario. I had an accurate
method of measuring the heel. The only variable was the tide. I had a
tide prediction for the exact point I had to pass, including moon
phase. We got to the bridge exactly at the time predicted. All
indicators were good to go, slack water, calm seas, tidal indicator on
the bridge, known visible sand bar exposure at low tide etc. and still
we just made it. It appears that the tidal range prediction was not
accurate.

..

"Marc" wrote in message
...




Last November. I brought my F36 to a DIY yard for winter storage and
bottom work. The yards benefits were off set by distance, tolls and
a 55' fixed bridge. But, with a 6' tide, still a net plus.

Come March, I discover that the DOT has begun re-decking the bridge
and has hung a safety scaffold below. Checking the Notice to Mariners
(belatedly) I find that the public notice was given and permits were
issued for a five foot reduction in bridge clearance.

I did not want to remove the mast for a number of reasons including:
inexperience of the yard in handling a Freedom mast, not wanting to
disturb a perfect, non-leaking seal, not wanting to carry the mast as
deck cargo to another yard, and the cost of removal and re-stepping.

My best measurements showed a 55' mast hgt. including anchor light,
with all instrumentation removed except for the VHF radio antenna.
Hitting the optimum tide at my target launch date would give me 5.8'
below Mean High Water and a calculated clearance of 55.8'.
Accordingly, I figured a 15 degree heel would see me safely under the
bridge.

Having made the decision to heel the boat, the next considerations
were how to load, how much to load, what to load and how to rig the
boat. I wanted to deck load as much as possible and keep as much
strain off the mast as I could, while at the same time preparing the
mast for as much strain as needed. I opted not to use the main halyard
but instead installed a choker around the mast just above the fore
stay attachment point.

Using the blocks from my vang and the second reef line I created a 3
part tackle by attaching a block with becket to the choker and a block
to the boom. The free end of the reef line was then rove from the out
haul at the end of the boom up to the choker block, back down to the
boom block and back up to the becket on the choker block. Now I had a
crane with control lines that led through my deck organizer, clutches
and to my winches; Up and Down by the reef line, In and Out by the
main sheet and traveler. A preventer to a snatch block on the bow
completed the rig.

I began loading by filling the 60 gal. potable water tank below and
lashing a 55 gal drum to the deck and filling that. It barely made a
dent, 3 degrees at best. I then decided on sand bags. At $1.75 for
each 50 lb. bag, they were cheap and easily jettisoned. After loading
1200 lbs at the toe rail, I still had only 10 degrees of heel.

On to plan B. I bought a 1 cubic yard bulk load polypropylene bag with
a 3300 lb rating for $40.00 , attached it to the boom and began
loading the individual sand bags into it. Ultimately, it took 900 lbs.
on the boom and 300 lbs. on the deck to heel the F36 to 15 degrees.

Ultimately, The boat made it under the bridge, but barely. For all the
figuring in the world and all the careful prep work, my VHF antenna
bent in half acting as curb feeler on the underside of the bridge. I
knew the height of my mast from an empirical measurement. I knew the
degree of heel needed for a worst case scenario. I had an accurate
method of measuring the heel. The only variable was the tide. I had a
tide prediction for the exact point I had to pass, including moon
phase. We got to the bridge exactly at the time predicted. All
indicators were good to go, slack water, calm seas, tidal indicator on
the bridge, known visible sand bar exposure at low tide etc. and still
we just made it. It appears that the tidal range prediction was not
accurate.

.


Interesting... reminds me of when they brought the new cranes into the
Oakland estuary... the calculation was right, but the supervisor sat on top
of the crane just to make sure. Only cleared by a few feet as I recall.

Something must have been off. Was there no way to observe whether or not the
tides were at the low point?

In any case, you made it!

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Thanks for the post, Marc, very interesting subject.

Marc wrote:
..... I figured a 15 degree heel would see me safely under the
bridge.


We used to do this small boats (up to a Lightning) and in some places
had to heel a lot more than 15 degrees to get under... gave you a fine
appreciation for balance & how the helm & leeway changes when the boat
is layed over.

My hat's off to you for successfuly doing this.

Having made the decision to heel the boat, the next considerations
were how to load, how much to load, what to load and how to rig the
boat. I wanted to deck load as much as possible and keep as much
strain off the mast as I could, while at the same time preparing the
mast for as much strain as needed.

It heels under sail, right? Assuming you don't put any huge impulse
loads from unplanned directions, heeling the boat from the mast head
should work just fine. I've done it many times on a lot of different
boats, for reasons from stability testing to installing a wind
indicator.


...I opted not to use the main halyard
but instead installed a choker around the mast just above the fore
stay attachment point.


Why not use the rig's already-built-for-it attachment points?

The biggest mistake I've seen people make is to hook the main halyard
onto a heavy weight, swing it outboard, and crank it up... that can
jam the sheave or break the halyard. Put a block on the halyard, reeve
a line thru that block and then hoist the block & both parts of the
line up, then cleat it and use the new line to hoist weights, with the
block free to assume any angle it needs.

The traditional way to heel a boat (say, if it's hard aground) is to
rig a lifting bridle on the dinghy, putting a hoisting tackle on the
end of the boom, rigging two whips to control the boom fore & aft,
then swinging it outboard. Fill the dinghy with water and start
hoisting it to the boom end. Should be able to get at least 15 degrees
that way.

The next question is, will running at that angle of heel affect your
motor's running? Some boats lose cooling water ....

Fresh Breezes- Doug King