We live on a small inlet off of Chickamauga lake in Tennessee. I am looking at an Oday 22 as my first real sailboat. I can play in the inlet, but to get to the real lake I have to pass under a bridge. How muchb above the water is a 1983 Oday with the mast down and how easy is it to raise the mast by myself?
Mark P
Mark,
The 1983 O'Day 22 is a fractional rig with a keel/centerboard and it was one of the last 22s they built before they came out with the O'Day 222. I couldn't tell you the height from the waterline but the mast on my 86 O'Day 222 is 27' high standing on top of the cabin and it's also a fractional rig.
As for mast raising/lowering, I think that if you can rig up a temporary mast crutch in the stern to hold the mast from hitting the cabin top, you could probably let that mast down by hand while standing on the companionway hatch with the aid of a rope attached to your jib halyard, going through a sheave on the bow plate and back to you. The rope has no advantage until the mast is part way up. As the mast lowers, the angle of the rope becomes too acute and this is where shoulder power comes into play.
If this boat has a roller reefing furler, I wouldn't advise using this method of mast raising/lowering though without a Gin Pole. Gin Poles are great but they are kind of time consuming to set up for what you have planned. With a mast crutch in the stern, (mine has a small roller in the crutch) you leave your stays connected except the fore stay, and raise the mast from the stern. The boom can be inside the cabin with the sail attached to it. Once you get the mast up, you simply pull the rope up tight which is attached to the jib halyard, and bring it around the mast above the gooseneck fitting so it doesn't slip down, and tie it off to one of your bow cleats. Then you can attach the fore stay. The wind always needs to be coming directly from the stern when you do this and the boat needs to be level. Hopefully some idiot won't come by and raise a large wake on you when you're in the middle of this mast raising/lowering. Check out my "Owner Photo Album" for pics of the Gin Pole and mast crutch. Like I mentioned, they work great but they are time consuming.
Joe
