I need to drop the mast in order to replace my Halliards and topping lift. Can anyone suggest a safe operation for this undertaking? Thanks.
Gabriel.
Gabriel.
Operation: Drop Mast. Suggestions?
- Thread starter gabriel.donnelly
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Gabriel:
On land with two stout helpers. Read instructions posted in manual somewhere in archives. Use experienced helpers, have six pack handy.
Ed K
26
i built a gin pole with help from joe. it makes it alot easier. you should be able to find some of his pictures on this site if do a search. i also attached a link to give you an idea of how a gin pole works.
http://slowflight.net/upgrades/tips-GinPole.html
i didn't have much luck with the birdle on my boat as both stays connect to the same chain plate. however, it probably would work better on your 25.
http://slowflight.net/upgrades/tips-GinPole.html
i didn't have much luck with the birdle on my boat as both stays connect to the same chain plate. however, it probably would work better on your 25.
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If your O'Day 25 has a triangular plate at the bottom of your stays on each side of your boat, you can drop your mast over the bow by using the boom as a Gin Pole. If you have an owner's manual, it should explain how to do this. I think that it can be difficult to do with the roller furler. You could also drop the mast aft which is a lot easier. The mast needs to have a holding crutch in the stern because the companionway hatch clearance will only allow you to only drop it down so far. What you could do is tie a closed step ladder to the stern rail and drop the mast on that. Two 2X4s bolted together to form a giant scissors can also be used for a mast holder. Before you drop the mast, position the boat so that the wind is coming from the stern. You can do this at the dock and hope that no idiot comes by and raises a wake. If you have a furler, have someone hold and guide it down in line with the mast. Just loosen the fore stay, pull the front pin on the tabernacle and with the companionway hatch closed, two or three guys can walk it down easy. Four guys can do this pretty easy. Just take your time and plan it out.
Joe
LordNelson,
If you don't have a roller furler, I wouldn't bother with bridles for temporary stabilizer stays. Both of my stays connect to the same chain plate also. What I had to do in order to use bridles was to install a pad eye on the deck of each side of my boat. The bridles lengths should all be equal in relation to the stainless steel ring that needs to come even with the pivot point of the mast, when the bridles are stretched out. The temporary stays connect to this ring. Here's some pictures of it. My "baby stays" or temporary stays attach to a sail slide which is held up tight by my main halyard. I took this idea from of an article in "Small Craft Advisor." It works, but I'm not too keen on it and plan on building a special yoke to clamp on to the mast, similar to what my friend Wayne uses on his Seaward 22 mast raising rig in the last picture.
Joe
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I lowered my mast today and here's what I did.
I u-bolted a 2x4 to the stanchions.
Loosely attached an eye-bolt to the 2x4.
Slipped a piece of 1" tubing over the eye-bolt and hooked the tubes together with a clevis.
Attached the jib halyard to the clevis.
Ran the winch cable through a snatch block and then to the clevis.
Then cranked her down.
I have a 2600# winch an using high speed it hardly pulled at all.
I'm pleased with how easy it went.
Rich
I u-bolted a 2x4 to the stanchions.
Loosely attached an eye-bolt to the 2x4.
Slipped a piece of 1" tubing over the eye-bolt and hooked the tubes together with a clevis.
Attached the jib halyard to the clevis.
Ran the winch cable through a snatch block and then to the clevis.
Then cranked her down.
I have a 2600# winch an using high speed it hardly pulled at all.
I'm pleased with how easy it went.
Rich
That looks pretty good Rich. It's hard to believe how many different ways there are to raise and lower a mast. I was talking to a salesman in West Marine a few years ago who built an A frame similar to what you have. He built it out of two spars which he said was about 18' long. He rigged it so that it stands upright, and he told me that he was able to step his through-hull mast on his J 24, all by himself. I imagine that he uses a set of blocks with a rope sling noose around the mast that will only go as far as the spreaders. Once the mast is stepped on the keel, the noose will come down when he lets the blocks off, or he may use a telescopic boat hook to grab hold of it. I'd love to see that in action.
Joe
the fourth picture
keith
Joe. in the fourth picture the mast is laying down. but the bridle is still uneder tension. what is it connected to at this point? I thought (maybe wrongly) that the ring is connected the the shroud to keep lateral tension on the mast as you lower it.
keith
Ahoy there, Keith!
The bridles in the fourth picture are connected to the front of my Gin Pole, and also to the mast via the sail slide and Main Halyard. When the mast is laying down the tension is still the same as when it's standing up. When these pictures were taken, I may not have been using the sail slide on the mast with the halyard. I was tying the baby stays to my lower shrouds using a lineman's "Rolling Hitch" knot. The sketch that I've posted have the dimensions that I used for my 222 with the yoke of the Gin Pole placed near the goose neck fitting. If you were to make up a Gin Pole, you would need to decide where to mount it on the mast and then figure out the length that it has to be to fit your boat. You'd want the end of the Gin Pole to be within a few inches back from the fore stay. The height of the Gin Pole on the mast is determined by the method used to raise the mast. If you opt for a small boat winch mounted on the Gin Pole with a sheave at the end, the pole can be mounted lower on the mast, but it's going to need to be longer. If you use a block and tackle as I am using, more clearance is needed for the two blocks when the mast is up. You should have about 8 or 10" in between your blocks when you set them up to lower the mast. What I like about the block and tackle is; I can operate them while standing next to my mast, guiding it up or down. If a stay is about to kink, or a T ball fitting in the mast plates are twisted, I can see it and stop the operation. T Ball fitting can only get screwed up when I'm raising my mast. If you have mast tangs, you probably won't be faced with that problem. I have only one mast tang and that's for my fore stay. If you decide to build a Gin Pole, email me and I'll send you some pics and info.
sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net
My first Gin Pole was constructed of Oak and I fashioned it to come apart in two pieces. All the Gin Pole does is provide you with the proper angle of the dangle to raise your mast.
Joe
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Thanks to every one especially Joe.
I think I finally have it in my head how the bridle works.
That's going to make My life much easier. It took me
a while to understand but on the other hand my father
always said I was thick headed but he said it in french
so it didn't sound so bad. And Rich I think I might go with
your idea. This way I might be able to leave it always
set up on the boat. Seeing that I always trailer it back and
forth, it give me less set up time
God bless and thank you
RonC
Ron,
If you don't have a furler on your O'Day 20, you could get away with just the Gin Pole without the pivot bridles. You could mount a small boat winch on the Gin Pole, or you could use a block and tackle like I do. In my case, I'm using my boom vang with an extra long line on it.
http://slowflight.net/upgrades/tips-GinPole.html Here's a picture of Gin Pole that I built out of oak. I made it so that it comes apart in two pieces for easy stowing under the settees. All that's needed is to ties the crutch of the Gin Pole to the mast, hook the Jib halyard to it, and the blocks to the bow plate and end of the Gin Pole. I like using the blocks because I can pull the mast up while standing next to it and guiding it up. Glad to have been some help to you Ron.
Smooth Sailing!
Joe
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Thanks Joe.
But don't I still need the bridle to keep the
mast from going side to side?
RonC
i don't know what joe will say, but i use a winch mounted on the gin pole and i tried once, but was unsuccessful, in making a bridle. (the available attachment points were not in the right spots.)
i have my wife crank the winch while i guide the mast and keep it from going side to side till it's on the mast crutch. without a bridle, my wife on the gin pole winch has to steady the pole so it doesn't flop over at least until there is a enough load on it. (this is beginning to sound alittle kinky : )
i don't think i would be able to do this alone unless i had a bridle.
i have my wife crank the winch while i guide the mast and keep it from going side to side till it's on the mast crutch. without a bridle, my wife on the gin pole winch has to steady the pole so it doesn't flop over at least until there is a enough load on it. (this is beginning to sound alittle kinky : )
i don't think i would be able to do this alone unless i had a bridle.
Nelson,
Maybe the crutch is too loose on the mast. Try shimming it up with a rag or piece of carpet, and tie the crutch to the mast real good. It shouldn't flop back and forth with a strain on it. If you were to stand athwart ships to your boat and site your mast, are your side stays aft of the center line of your mast, or are they in line with it? My stays are aft of the center line of my mast, by about 12" I think. If your side stay is say for instance, 12" aft of the centerline of your mast, you can insert a small stainless steel shackle in the turnbuckle toggle strap for one of the pivot bridle hooks. Then measure 12" forward of the centerline of your mast and install your pad eye to the deck of your boat on each side of the boat. It's best to make up the bridles first, with the hooks and rings, and make the rope lengths even, before you install the pad eyes. Just set up the bridle for a dry run while holding the pad eye in place on the deck. The ring needs to come even with the pivot point of the mast when the bridle is stretched out. Once you get it where it should be, you mark where the pad eye needs to be mounted on the deck, and install it. Here's a picture of it.
Joe
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Ron,
I'm not that familiar with the O'Day 20, but if you can raise your mast with all your stays connected with the exception of the fore stay, with the wind coming directly from the stern, the mast should go right up straight. Of course, if the boat is leaning to one side because the trailer is not level, or one of the side stays gets snagged as you're raising the mast, the mast is going to lean that way and that's not good.
When I first got my new O'Day 222, I had a vague idea of how I was going to get the mast up and down from owning smaller sailboats. One of the most needed devices is a temporary mast holder in the stern. So I made something up out of plywood and 2X4s that could serve as a mast holder when trailering, and also telescope up high enough to allow mast clearance over the companionway hatch and enable me to insert the rear Tabernacle pin. I used to use a 60' 3/8" line running through a single sheave on the bow plate to hold the mast in place after I got it all the way up. One end of this line was tied to the Jib halyard shackle with the halyard cleated off at the mast, and the other end of the line was in my hand as I was lifting the mast and eventually pushing it up and pulling on the line once the proper angle was attained. When the mast was all the way up, I brought the line around the mast, above the goose neck fitting, and cleated it off around the Starboard bow cleat. The bungee that held the fore stay to the mast was removed, and the stay was attached to the bow plate. I did it this way for over eight years almost every weekend in the summer. What the Gin Pole does is give you the angle needed to pull your mast up or let it down with the aid of a set of blocks, or a small boat winch, and it can do it with the mast in a horizontal position and stop it at any position. All you need to do is guide the mast, and the Gin will do the rest. Here's an old picture from the 1990s that was taken in Mattapoiset Ma. Harbor. My wife was sitting in the car reading a magazine, I think. It was a one man job back then anyway. Being a "Geezer" now, I don't think that I could do this anymore.
Joe
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Thanks Joe and Nelson
I keep all my stays connected all of the time, even for winter storage.
( except the fore stay ) I basically do the same thing as I did with my
Siren. I had a telescopic crutch on the back and a electric winch hocked
up in the back of the car. Brand name was SuperWrench made here in
Putnam,CT. I extended the control cord to the back of the mast so I
could guide the mast up, That worked well but I'm not as agile any
more. 9 out 10 times I'll be alone so I would be much safer doing it
with the harness and gin pole like you rigged. I'll still be using my
electric winch. With your rig I'll be sailing many more years to come
God willing.
RonC
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