Got a gin pole?step by step
Ideally the pole would equal the distance to the foredeck turning point. I know this because when I built the system slightly short, the resulting force (when mast up) tended to pull the pole away from the mast.Did you carefully select that fence post length to match or be shorter than the distance to the foredeck cleat...or maybe some % of the mast length?
Sorta. After tightening the winch line I would adjust the spin halyard's tension. When on the trailer, the Mac has a nose-down attitude that has to be overcome, so yep, when lowering, I had to slacken the winch some and push the mast back past it's tipping point.Do you just set the winch line so the gin pole is parallel to the deck, disconnect the forestay & furler and give the mast a bit of a push toward the stern & waiting crutch?