Taking the mast down with a CDI furler (O'day 25)

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wnance

.
Oct 6, 2008
38
Oday 25 Rochester Harbor
Hi,

My father-in-law's boat (O'day 25, centerboard) is getting hauled today and put on the cradle, and this will be our first season of storage with the CDI furler. Anything we need to know so the furler doesn't get damaged?

What I know is that we'll take the sail down, then pull the pin on the drum, pull the drum up, etc., to get to the forestay pin and then drop the mast. Is it as simple then as just using some bungees to tie the furler to the mast so it doesn't kink?

My father-in-law was wondering about taking the mast clear down to the ground for the winter so he could rig a higher cover over the boat so he (we) could do some work in the early spring before launch without tripping over all the rigging on the deck. Any opinions there?

Thanks for your help,

Wes Nance
Rochester, NY
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
O'Day 25 w/cdi

Hi,

My father-in-law's boat (O'day 25, centerboard) is getting hauled today and put on the cradle, and this will be our first season of storage with the CDI furler. Anything we need to know so the furler doesn't get damaged?

What I know is that we'll take the sail down, then pull the pin on the drum, pull the drum up, etc., to get to the forestay pin and then drop the mast. Is it as simple then as just using some bungees to tie the furler to the mast so it doesn't kink?

My father-in-law was wondering about taking the mast clear down to the ground for the winter so he could rig a higher cover over the boat so he (we) could do some work in the early spring before launch without tripping over all the rigging on the deck. Any opinions there?

Thanks for your help,

Wes Nance
-------------------------------- // ---------------------------------
Wes,

I have a O26 which hardly differs from the 25. There are no special problems. If it is you and your father, just take your time making sure no stays tangle.

Some where in archives are directions for raising and lowering mast of 25 using main sheet. That method gives control and adds safety to people and mast.

There are many good postings on storage. Rick is an expert and has recently posted pictures. Check them out. Tell Rick he is the greatest thing
since cherry cheese cake.

Good luck, have fun.

Ed K
O26
 

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Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
correction

Hi,

My father-in-law's boat (O'day 25, centerboard) is getting hauled today and put on the cradle, and this will be our first season of storage with the CDI furler. Anything we need to know so the furler doesn't get damaged?

What I know is that we'll take the sail down, then pull the pin on the drum, pull the drum up, etc., to get to the forestay pin and then drop the mast. Is it as simple then as just using some bungees to tie the furler to the mast so it doesn't kink?

My father-in-law was wondering about taking the mast clear down to the ground for the winter so he could rig a higher cover over the boat so he (we) could do some work in the early spring before launch without tripping over all the rigging on the deck. Any opinions there?

Thanks for your help,

Wes Nance
-------------------------------- // ---------------------------------
Wes,

I have a O26 which hardly differs from the 25. There are no special problems. If it is you and your father, just take your time making sure no stays tangle.

Some where in archives are directions for raising and lowering mast of 25 using main sheet. That method gives control and adds safety to people and mast.

There are many good postings on storage. Rick is an expert and has recently posted pictures. Check them out. Tell Rick he is the greatest thing
since cherry cheese cake.

Good luck, have fun.

Ed K

Correction:

That should be Rich not Rick, but then Rick can also respond...

Ed K
O26
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _/) ~~~~~~~~~~
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
Which ever way you take the mast down Wes, just have someone hold the furler in line with the mast as it goes down. You may want to tie a board under the furler luff close to the drum to give it support for trailering. That's about all I can tell you except for keeping the wind directly behind the mast if you're dropping it aft and vice versa. Having the boat level is also important.
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
Hi,

My father-in-law's boat (O'day 25, centerboard) is getting hauled today and put on the cradle, and this will be our first season of storage with the CDI furler. Anything we need to know so the furler doesn't get damaged?

What I know is that we'll take the sail down, then pull the pin on the drum, pull the drum up, etc., to get to the forestay pin and then drop the mast. Is it as simple then as just using some bungees to tie the furler to the mast so it doesn't kink?

My father-in-law was wondering about taking the mast clear down to the ground for the winter so he could rig a higher cover over the boat so he (we) could do some work in the early spring before launch without tripping over all the rigging on the deck. Any opinions there?

Thanks for your help,

Wes Nance
-------------------------------- // ---------------------------------
Wes,

I have a O26 which hardly differs from the 25. There are no special problems. If it is you and your father, just take your time making sure no stays tangle.

Some where in archives are directions for raising and lowering mast of 25 using main sheet. That method gives control and adds safety to people and mast.

There are many good postings on storage. Rick is an expert and has recently posted pictures. Check them out. Tell Rick he is the greatest thing
since cherry cheese cake.

Good luck, have fun.

Ed K

Correction:

That should be Rich not Rick, but then Rick can also respond...

Ed K
O26
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _/) ~~~~~~~~~~
yeah, where is appleman, i checked his profile last week and he still visits the site
keith
 
Oct 10, 2009
1,044
Catalina 27 3657 Lake Monroe
I like to have an extra person there to hold onto the furler, just to be on the safe side. Then I bungee it to the mast to keep it straight, especially near the drum so that the weight of it isn't hanging freely.
 
Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
Here's my take on winter storage with an attached boat shop-








It served me well last winter. I've got two doors- rear portside and foreward starboard. Mainly to provide ventilation when working with volatiles and floating particles. Also it can get pretty warm on nice sunny winter days. This is my second year with this boat shop. I found some 2x2s with slightly rounded edges that fit perfectly into the 2" ridgepole to stiffen it. The frame knocks apart for storage. I like the shrink wrap but I'm sure something like this can be used with a large polytarp. The trouble with tarps is keeping them either held off off the topsides so they don't chafe with the wind or holding them tight to the hull. But for short term it's probably OK. And a tarp is cheaper and reusable.

Rich
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
I like to have an extra person there to hold onto the furler, just to be on the safe side. Then I bungee it to the mast to keep it straight, especially near the drum so that the weight of it isn't hanging freely.
For years I didn't have a furler on my boat because I would never have been able to get my mast up by myself the way I was doing it back then with a roller furler attached to it. Then I discovered the Gin Pole, but even with the Gin Pole it's pretty risky without the temporary stays (baby stays) holding the mast. This year I showed my friend Wayne how to tie off the vinyl furler luff to his Gin Pole with a "lineman's Rolling Hitch" and lock it to the pole so it stays put and doesn't slack off as the mast is lowered. We both have a Mickey Mouse arrangement at the mast tang for disconnecting the stay for trailering the boat. He came up with the idea and I stole it off him. This "Rolling hitch" is simple to tie and has many uses. Check it out.
Joe
 

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Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
What time of year is it????

yeah, where is appleman, i checked his profile last week and he still visits the site
keith[/quote]

Keith,

Appleman uses that moniker because he owns an apple orchard. Would you believe that? An Apple farmer? Have you considered what fruit is ripe this time of year?

Obviously a statist and elitest woud not think about a member of the working class. Maybe you can send him enough to send you a bushel? of Apples?

Oh, I figured it out. An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. And maybe his assistant?

I used to have his web site. Yes, he has apple orchard web site.

Ed K
O26
 

Attachments

wnance

.
Oct 6, 2008
38
Oday 25 Rochester Harbor
For years I didn't have a furler on my boat because I would never have been able to get my mast up by myself the way I was doing it back then with a roller furler attached to it. Then I discovered the Gin Pole, but even with the Gin Pole it's pretty risky without the temporary stays (baby stays) holding the mast. This year I showed my friend Wayne how to tie off the vinyl furler luff to his Gin Pole with a "lineman's Rolling Hitch" and lock it to the pole so it stays put and doesn't slack off as the mast is lowered. We both have a Mickey Mouse arrangement at the mast tang for disconnecting the stay for trailering the boat. He came up with the idea and I stole it off him. This "Rolling hitch" is simple to tie and has many uses. Check it out.
Joe
We got the mast and furler down yesterday, thanks for all the helpful replies. Always a bit of an adventure, though- last year we were put on a cradle that faced the bow towards some power lines, and we didn't have room to drop the mast forward, so we went back, which was not a good plan, it's not really designed on the O'day 25 to go backwards.

So this year, the marina puts us on the same cradle, but further back from the lines, with the confident "you'll clear those power lines no problem this year". Then yesterday, we're dropping the mast forward with 4 guys very carefully, and we see the antenna clip the power lines and go "boing", so we're like "up, up!". We ended up dropping forward to about a 45 degree angle (I was holding it there over my head) and then pulling the back pin and moving the base of the mast towards the stern at the same time the front came the rest of the way down. This, of course, is with both the fore and backstays off because of the CDI furler on the forestay. It was a little exciting for a brief moment, but I think we planned well and it never really got out of control. We had a guy out behind the boat with a line attached to the backstay, so he was controlling the rate of descent.

I'm sure it will be another adventure putting it back up in the spring!

Sad to see her out of the water, the season seemed to fly by, but everything looks good, the VC17 on the bottom this year doesn't look worn at all, so I'm wondering if we'll need to still paint he next spring, or if we can skip a year. . .

Wes
 
Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
"and we see the antenna clip the power lines and go "boing" "

Whew! I would have needed a change of clothes if it would have happened to me.

I really don't care to take the mast down forward. I know Oday thought it was a good idea and had an optional setup to do it. I feel dropping it back gives you more control and makes it easier to hook the mast base to the tabernacle.

Here's the setup I used-








Using the trailer winch worked very well. But this fall I had to drop the mast at the dock so I ran a line through a block on the stem head fitting back to my primary winch. I may have to raise the mast next spring from the water also. I want to work out a way to get the mast crutch further aft because when the mast is laying in the crutch and attached to the tabernacle the spreaders are just aft of the crutch and it's unbalanced when the base is loose and you have to lift the whole mast up and over the crutch to get the spreaders forward of the crutch so you can slide the mast ahead and let it sit to rig or unrig the mast.

Using the mast to ground out a power cable can sure ruin the day for a whole lot of people.

Rich
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
Looks cool rich,
If I may, where did you get the mast lowering set up? if you made it, what is a good ratio for the "A frame" poles length to mase length? Or how did you decide on the lengths and location of the A frame pivots?
thanks,
keith
hey Ed, do you even HAVE a sailboat? hmmm? Seems you never post any pictures of you sailing, rather odd wouldn't you say? hmmm? :poke:
 
Last edited:
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
yeah, where is appleman, i checked his profile last week and he still visits the site
keith
Keith,

Appleman uses that moniker because he owns an apple orchard. Would you believe that? An Apple farmer? Have you considered what fruit is ripe this time of year?

Obviously a statist and elitest woud not think about a member of the working class. Maybe you can send him enough to send you a bushel? of Apples?

Oh, I figured it out. An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. And maybe his assistant?

I used to have his web site. Yes, he has apple orchard web site.

Ed K
O26[/QUOTE]
Thats right Ed, and the real state (the one behind the facade that you TV news and talk show / FOX/ MSNBC/ CNN watchers believe in, sorta like the tooth fairy) is watching your every move and plotting the best time to "neutralize" you once the ruling rich have milked you dry.!!!:neutral:
Plus, aren't all the apple trees frozen up there by now? lol
We have some great apples here in eliya, Ga, so if you ever get down here we can check it out, from Sept through early Dec. Good stuff
keith
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
yeah, where is appleman, i checked his profile last week and he still visits the site
keith
Keith,

Appleman uses that moniker because he owns an apple orchard. Would you believe that? An Apple farmer? Have you considered what fruit is ripe this time of year?

Obviously a statist and elitest woud not think about a member of the working class. Maybe you can send him enough to send you a bushel? of Apples?

Oh, I figured it out. An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. And maybe his assistant?

I used to have his web site. Yes, he has apple orchard web site.

Ed K
O26[/QUOTE]



Try this, sailor-wanna-be Ed K; http://www.bartlettsorchard.com

He also has the Oday owner's manuel, at least for the 26 (which is what real sailors sail) :eek: {dang I'm in a mood eh?}: http://www.bartlettsorchard.com/pickyourown/o'day manuals/O'Day 26 Manual.pdf
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
I want to work out a way to get the mast crutch further aft because when the mast is laying in the crutch and attached to the tabernacle the spreaders are just aft of the crutch and it's unbalanced when the base is loose and you have to lift the whole mast up and over the crutch to get the spreaders forward of the crutch so you can slide the mast ahead and let it sit to rig or unrig the mast.

Using the mast to ground out a power cable can sure ruin the day for a whole lot of people.

Rich
Rich, looks like Joe has his stern mast crutch with the roller on top so the spreaders don't get caught when sliding the mast fa'rd. I wish i knew half what joe knows!
How cool is his mast system?

Hey Joe, does that knot slide on the furler? Or is it stationary?
keith
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
Rich, looks like Joe has his stern mast crutch with the roller on top so the spreaders don't get caught when sliding the mast fa'rd. I wish i knew half what joe knows!
How cool is his mast system?

Hey Joe, does that knot slide on the furler? Or is it stationary?
keith
The "T" Ball fittings in my mast for the lower stays kept getting caught in the crutch roller and I was always having to walk back and try to straighten it out in order to get the mast rolled further back far enough to pin the Tabernacle. So I solved that problem by drilling another hole for the roller axle and I added a wing nut to move the roller up higher. Done! Problem solved.

Keith,
You can grab that hitch with your hands and move it up or down with ease but once you apply any pressure to that bowline, that hitch won't move. The Bowline really isn't needed in that hitch. You could tie this hitch to a round lolly column down your cellar with a Bowline on the end and use it for a foot hold and that hitch won't slide down the pole. The more weight you add to the standing part of that hitch, the tighter it gets. You can release the pressure applied to the Bowline and grab the hitch, and it will slide down easy.
You could use this hitch for wire, rope, a lifeline, or just about anything. In the summer I sometimes set up a small polytarp to my stern rail and attach the ropes from it to my lifelines with this hitch. When you tie this hitch, you need to rap the line around the object that you want to hold, away from the direction of pull and tie the two half hitches at the end of the rolling hitch. I've tried looking for this hitch on the web and it's no where to be found. With that said though, I never met a lineman who didn't know how to tie it. It's an easy hitch to learn. Give it a shot.

This pic was taken near Bristol RI harbor with the Mount Hope Bridge in the background. Didn't have much wind that day but you can see the braid lines from the tarp tied to the lifelines with these hitches.
Joe
 

Attachments

Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
The "T" Ball fittings in my mast for the lower stays kept getting caught in the crutch roller and I was always having to walk back and try to straighten it out in order to get the mast rolled further back far enough to pin the Tabernacle. So I solved that problem by drilling another hole for the roller axle and I added a wing nut to move the roller up higher. Done! Problem solved.

Keith,
You can grab that hitch with your hands and move it up or down with ease but once you apply any pressure to that bowline, that hitch won't move. The Bowline really isn't needed in that hitch. You could tie this hitch to a round lolly column down your cellar with a Bowline on the end and use it for a foot hold and that hitch won't slide down the pole. The more weight you add to the standing part of that hitch, the tighter it gets. You can release the pressure applied to the Bowline and grab the hitch, and it will slide down easy.
You could use this hitch for wire, rope, a lifeline, or just about anything. In the summer I sometimes set up a small polytarp to my stern rail and attach the ropes from it to my lifelines with this hitch. When you tie this hitch, you need to rap the line around the object that you want to hold, away from the direction of pull and tie the two half hitches at the end of the rolling hitch. I've tried looking for this hitch on the web and it's no where to be found. With that said though, I never met a lineman who didn't know how to tie it. It's an easy hitch to learn. Give it a shot.

This pic was taken near Bristol RI harbor with the Mount Hope Bridge in the background. Didn't have much wind that day but you can see the braid lines from the tarp tied to the lifelines with these hitches.
Joe
Joe, i can't quite make out how the hitch is used to secure the furler to the gin pole.
1 Is the gin pole secured to the bowline?
2. Does the hitch slide on the furler while the mast is being lowered?
I tried to zoom in on the pic of the furler and gin pole but couldn't.
thanks for your help
keith
 
Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
Keith,
The setup is simple and cheap. Standard Home Depot fare (except for the cable snatch block which I found on Amazon or about $20). 4- 1" u-bolts, 2- 1/2" bolts with washers for the pivot pins, 2 long i-bolts, a few clevises, 2 lengths of conduit (3/4" I think) and a couple of 2x4s. Picking the length and placement of the a-frame was easy. The pipe came in 10' lengths. I cut 2' off to make them easier to store and I mounted them forward enough to meet at the stem head.

Rich
 

wnance

.
Oct 6, 2008
38
Oday 25 Rochester Harbor
"and we see the antenna clip the power lines and go "boing" "

Whew! I would have needed a change of clothes if it would have happened to me.

I really don't care to take the mast down forward. I know Oday thought it was a good idea and had an optional setup to do it. I feel dropping it back gives you more control and makes it easier to hook the mast base to the tabernacle.

Here's the setup I used-








Using the trailer winch worked very well. But this fall I had to drop the mast at the dock so I ran a line through a block on the stem head fitting back to my primary winch. I may have to raise the mast next spring from the water also. I want to work out a way to get the mast crutch further aft because when the mast is laying in the crutch and attached to the tabernacle the spreaders are just aft of the crutch and it's unbalanced when the base is loose and you have to lift the whole mast up and over the crutch to get the spreaders forward of the crutch so you can slide the mast ahead and let it sit to rig or unrig the mast.

Using the mast to ground out a power cable can sure ruin the day for a whole lot of people.

Rich
Rich,

I like that setup a lot, but have a couple questions-

On our O'day 25, the aft side of the mast has a couple things sticking out (can't remember exactly what right now) that dig into the deck as the mast swings back. There is a nice scraped out hole through the non-skid as evidence that the previous owner liked to take the mast backward. We also installed a mast plate under the tabernacle for extra block attachments at the base of the mast, and it has a lip that bends up at the back of the plate, and I don't know if the mast would catch on that or not. Maybe not.

Probably part of it is how high the mast crutch is that you are using back at the stern, does that keep the mast from digging into the deck as it goes back?

This is all great information, hopefully we'll have a better system next year.

Wes
 
Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
My mast also had that fitting at the base and I also had a hole in the deck because of it. I think it was to use the boom as a gin pole to the raise and lower the mast. I removed the sliding gooseneck setup for the boom and replaced it with that lower fitting. Much simpler setup.



Which plate did you get? The one I ordered from DRMarine wouldn't fit with the hole on the raised lip mounted to the rear so I ordered the one from RigRite. http://rigrite.com/Spars/Kenyon_Spars/Kenyon_Parts/K-1374_assm.html. The lip does not get in the way of the mast dropping.




Rich
 
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