I keep my C-22 in the water 100% of the time. I need to do some repairs at the top of the mast. Will the main halyard support a 170lb man in a bosuns chair?
Climbing the mast of C-22
- Thread starter Rappsailor
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I'd lower the mast!
Rapp: Why take a chance, when lowering the mast on 22 is fairly easy? The archives have some good techniques for doing so. I personally use a homemade A-frame. I suspect you could leave most of the rigging attached and the mast in its step if you lower it toward the stern, then move the boat into a position along a dock to get at the masthead. Good luck! Dick
Rapp: Why take a chance, when lowering the mast on 22 is fairly easy? The archives have some good techniques for doing so. I personally use a homemade A-frame. I suspect you could leave most of the rigging attached and the mast in its step if you lower it toward the stern, then move the boat into a position along a dock to get at the masthead. Good luck! Dick
We Lowered Ours
Rapp: We had to replace a bulb on our anchor light a few years ago, and lowered the mast with the boat in the slip. If you use the mainsheet and it's pulleys, the force involved is minimal. We have a crutch that plugs into the gudgeons that holds the mast about 7 feet above the cockpit seats. If you get some help you won't have trouble. I suppose it's not worth building too much mast stepping equipment if you rarely lower the mast. Be sure to watch the pop-top holder lock and possibly your boom vang eye. These will rotate downward when you lower the mast and damage the deck, or the hatchway. You might want to have the tools ready to loosen your boom vang eye, so that you can move it up the mast. You will, of course, have to disconnect the forward lower shrouds. Also, you should loosen one of the upper shrouds. I loosen the port one exactly 10 turns when I lower my mast, then when I restep it, I know exactly how many turns to retighten it to be right back where I was before I started. This will save you a little time. If you were only going up to the spreaders, a bosun's chair, or even just a piece of webbing might do the job, but for working on the masthead of a C-22, it's better to just lower the mast. Aldo
Rapp: We had to replace a bulb on our anchor light a few years ago, and lowered the mast with the boat in the slip. If you use the mainsheet and it's pulleys, the force involved is minimal. We have a crutch that plugs into the gudgeons that holds the mast about 7 feet above the cockpit seats. If you get some help you won't have trouble. I suppose it's not worth building too much mast stepping equipment if you rarely lower the mast. Be sure to watch the pop-top holder lock and possibly your boom vang eye. These will rotate downward when you lower the mast and damage the deck, or the hatchway. You might want to have the tools ready to loosen your boom vang eye, so that you can move it up the mast. You will, of course, have to disconnect the forward lower shrouds. Also, you should loosen one of the upper shrouds. I loosen the port one exactly 10 turns when I lower my mast, then when I restep it, I know exactly how many turns to retighten it to be right back where I was before I started. This will save you a little time. If you were only going up to the spreaders, a bosun's chair, or even just a piece of webbing might do the job, but for working on the masthead of a C-22, it's better to just lower the mast. Aldo
A-Frame C 22
Frank: I don't remember the dimensions, but the legs attach by a small line into the forward chain plates after removing forward shrouds, and they extend forward over the pulpit about a foot when eased down. The 2 arms are bolted there and the bolt goes thru a small length of chain (ca. 10 in.) with snaps attached to each end. The bolt is just finger tight so it is easy to take apart when not in use. One snap is attached to the forstay (hold forestay tight when you remove the forestay from boat) and the other snap to a line which my partner holds tight from in front of the bow. (The A frame is pivoted upward upward so the attachment can be made.) Then I move aft to the cockpit and support the mast while the partner eases line so mast is gently lowered into the cradle attached to the gudgeons on the transom. During this process, the A frame pivots allowing movement aft of the forestay. The partner then eases line so A-frame pivots down to where the forestay can be unsnapped, and the A-frame then removed. I used two small lodgepole pines, sort of like teepee poles for the arms of my A frame. Dick
Frank: I don't remember the dimensions, but the legs attach by a small line into the forward chain plates after removing forward shrouds, and they extend forward over the pulpit about a foot when eased down. The 2 arms are bolted there and the bolt goes thru a small length of chain (ca. 10 in.) with snaps attached to each end. The bolt is just finger tight so it is easy to take apart when not in use. One snap is attached to the forstay (hold forestay tight when you remove the forestay from boat) and the other snap to a line which my partner holds tight from in front of the bow. (The A frame is pivoted upward upward so the attachment can be made.) Then I move aft to the cockpit and support the mast while the partner eases line so mast is gently lowered into the cradle attached to the gudgeons on the transom. During this process, the A frame pivots allowing movement aft of the forestay. The partner then eases line so A-frame pivots down to where the forestay can be unsnapped, and the A-frame then removed. I used two small lodgepole pines, sort of like teepee poles for the arms of my A frame. Dick
Hoisting the wife
I've hoisted my wife [+/- 100lbs] and I have seen a 150 lb man hoisted both using the main. The issue I've seen is the one doing the hoisting. I would recommend running the line through two winches for safety and have your helper get the winch handle out before you start up the mast.
I've hoisted my wife [+/- 100lbs] and I have seen a 150 lb man hoisted both using the main. The issue I've seen is the one doing the hoisting. I would recommend running the line through two winches for safety and have your helper get the winch handle out before you start up the mast.
Photograph your masthead
To make a trip up the mast useful, photograph your masthead the next time the stick is down from several angles. Then, use the photos to brief whoever is going up. Cheap simple and effective.
To make a trip up the mast useful, photograph your masthead the next time the stick is down from several angles. Then, use the photos to brief whoever is going up. Cheap simple and effective.
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