Hi. I have had cats for 40 years but am new to monohulls. Just got an Oday 22 and plan to take it to Chatfield Res. in Littleton, CO. They have device there for mast stepping that appears to be a tall pole with an arm and a rope hanging down. There is a wench for raising and lowering the rope, which has a heavy hook on it. I would really like to know how to use this instead of monopolizing the thing for an hour while I do trial and error. Any help?
Raising the mast
- Thread starter catcapt
- Start date
The Gin pole is the tall pole with the line and winch at the bottom. I've only used chat fields once, the other lake that I know of with one is Carter lake which is north of Denver
To use the gin pole line your mast step up centered under the main line. With your single spreader rig it's pretty simple. Make loop around the lower part of the mast under the spreaders. As a helper cranks on the line it will raise the messy. Control the base until it is vertical, then place the mast in the step, attach the shrouds, forestry and back stay. Once these are connected and the mast is supported, you can release tension on the line on the gin pole and you should be good.
Usually there is someone there who will help and if you head to Carter lake on a weekend everyone at the sail,club is glad to help.
Enjoy,
To use the gin pole line your mast step up centered under the main line. With your single spreader rig it's pretty simple. Make loop around the lower part of the mast under the spreaders. As a helper cranks on the line it will raise the messy. Control the base until it is vertical, then place the mast in the step, attach the shrouds, forestry and back stay. Once these are connected and the mast is supported, you can release tension on the line on the gin pole and you should be good.
Usually there is someone there who will help and if you head to Carter lake on a weekend everyone at the sail,club is glad to help.
Enjoy,
Make sure to put a downhaul on the lifting line, and tie it around the mast below the lower shrouds. I use a heavy dock line, tied around the mast below the lowers with a bowline. The spliced eye is about a foot above the bowline and the gin pole hook attaches to that. the rest of the line hangs down as a downhaul. The line can get stuck under the lower shrouds and you need the downhaul to pull it down. If you tie above the lowers but below the spreaders, there's less for it to catch on but you have to pull it down before connecting the lowers. My wife and I raise and lower the mast on our Columbia 36 this way, it only takes about twenty minutes. Make sure you have all the stays and halyards led correctly before starting, it's pretty frustrating to get the mast up and then see there's a halyard on the wrong side of a spreader. BTDT
Most gin pole setups pull the forestay to the deck. Sounds like yours is a little different.
You can YouTube gin pole mast raising. The gin pole will hold the mast, and you can steer it with the gin pole as you raise it.
In the above photo, the forestay with furler attached is connect to the top side of the end of the gin pole. The 4:1 block with cam cleat (boom vang setup w 70 ft of line) is attached to the underside of the gin pole at one end and the forestay chainplate at the other. Hauling the line pulls the gin pole to the deck which hauls the forestay and hence the mast with it!
Note: the shrouds are midline with the mast on the Oday, so they can stay attached during raising and lowering. The back stay is also attached to stop the mast at vertical. Once the mast is vertical hard against the back stay, have someone hold it, or run a halyard to the bow pulpit to hold the mast. Then disconnect the block and forestay from the gin pole. Connect the forestay to the chainplate. You are done!
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On my Precision 23, I do the pulling on the jib halyard, when the mast is vertical, the forestay is already free to be attached to the deck. Need someone on deck to hold the furler up and clear as the mast comes up.
CatCapt:
I don't know how big of a guy you are but if you are at least 185 or so, you should be able to get the mast raised by simply using a mast crutch that gets the angle up a bit for a head start and then pull it up with your arms. I've stepped the mast of my Mac 22 like this with no problems at all. The mast crutch I had was a 2"x4" with pintles that slipped into the gudgeons of the rudder. Then on the top of the 2"x4" I screwed on a piece of plywood that was cut out to accept the mast. (I would use the crutch to trailer the mast also). Put the base of the mast in the tabernacle, the crutch will effectively raise the mast about 3'. That little bit of angle really takes the pressure off and makes it a lot easier to lift. Face backwards with your legs on either side of the mast, bend your knees, grab the mast between my legs and stand up and take two steps back. The entire process takes about 10 seconds. Before you start, run the jib halyard to the bow's chainplate. Then once the mast is up, snug up the halyard so the mast won't fall, then you can take your time going forward to secure the forestay.
I don't know how big of a guy you are but if you are at least 185 or so, you should be able to get the mast raised by simply using a mast crutch that gets the angle up a bit for a head start and then pull it up with your arms. I've stepped the mast of my Mac 22 like this with no problems at all. The mast crutch I had was a 2"x4" with pintles that slipped into the gudgeons of the rudder. Then on the top of the 2"x4" I screwed on a piece of plywood that was cut out to accept the mast. (I would use the crutch to trailer the mast also). Put the base of the mast in the tabernacle, the crutch will effectively raise the mast about 3'. That little bit of angle really takes the pressure off and makes it a lot easier to lift. Face backwards with your legs on either side of the mast, bend your knees, grab the mast between my legs and stand up and take two steps back. The entire process takes about 10 seconds. Before you start, run the jib halyard to the bow's chainplate. Then once the mast is up, snug up the halyard so the mast won't fall, then you can take your time going forward to secure the forestay.
Wow! You guys are great. I've seen some youtube stuff on making your own rig for mast stepping, but really want to learn the basic use of the one at the lake first. I'm 66 and had to give ups cats 3 years ago b/c I just couldn't get the 28' mast on my 17 up and down in the same day anymore! Thanks so much!
This won't be any help but I could not resist. Hope you used a winch and not a "wench"
