Date: 11/4/2008
Name: Dave Doan
email: daved@rapidnet.net
subject:
Stepping the mast


I'm with Doug on mast raising. Once the mast is pinned to the step I simply shoulder it while standing in the center of the cockpit and walk forward. When I get to the hatch I step up on the seats raising it another foot or so. At that point I grab the line that is rigged from the jib halyard shackle through a bullet block on the forestay tang, (which does double duty as the jib downhaul block), and back to the halyard winch on the cabin top. The angle is now such that its no problem to raise the mast the rest of the way, all perfectly under control and in good position to watch those pesky turnbuckle toggles at the chainplates. The other end of the jib halyard is, of course, temporarily cleated off near the base of the mast.

It's possible to stop at any time if there is a problem because the line runs through the halyard cam cleat before a couple of turns around the winch. Both the forestay and the backstay remain bungeed to the mast and out of the way. Because the chainplates are slightly to the rear of the step the mast can't go over center and come crashing down. A good tug on the line bends the top of the mast forward to provide enough slack to easily attach the forestay. The backstay safety pendant then has just enough slack to attach to the transom tang.

Lowering is basically the reverse: rig the line, detach the backstay, detach the forestay, bungee both to the mast and using the winch as a snubber lower away and catch the mast and guide it into the crutch. All of this was a little trickier before I ran the jib halyard back to the cockpit for single handing. I used to use the jib sheet fairlead and cam cleat but didn't have the benefit of the winch drum to keep things under control. I've also learned that the slope of the launch lot can be used to advantage by getting the stern high and bow low. Cheers,
Dave

P S.- Someone was asking about 1/2 hatch boards a few posts ago. The companionway is cut so low that any appreciable water in the cockpit will spill into the cabin before it goes down the drain; a half board will prevent that while not closing things off completely. Got to maintain access to binoculars, GPS, beer, etc., right? The half board is easier to deploy and stow than the full size board.


For some of us, a couple of problems:

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