We have an O'Day23 which has a deck-stepped (hinged) mast. Any special tricks and / or additional equipment to make the process easier (safer) for my wife and me?
Stepping and Unstepping Deck-hinged mast
- Thread starter anchorh
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I think that two of the most important things to remember is the wind direction and making sure the boat is level. If you're stepping the mast from aft, you'll want the wind coming directly from aft. You'll need your stays connected with the exception of the fore stay. The fore stay can be bungeed to the mast so it does not flop around. I'm assuming that you're planning on raising the mast from aft. You'll need some kind of a mast crutch in the stern to hold the mast while you pin the tabernacle. If you have a stern rail, you could probably make something out of wood. Install a small roller in the crutch and you can roll the mast back into position. My friend Wayne made a detachable mast crutch with a roller in it that fits on his stern rail. I have something similar on my boat that you can check out in my Owner's Picture Album on this site.
When I was younger I used to get my mast ready at a height that I could reach while straddling the cockpit seats. Then I would walk forward and pin the tabernacle. I would stand on top of the closed companionway hatch and reach down and grab the mast and raise it by hand. Then I'd put my shoulder into it and push it up.
I installed a single sheave on the bow stem chain plate with a 60'X3/8" nylon line which I had attached to the Jib halyard shackle. I raised the Jib halyard all the way up and cleated it off at the bottom of the mast. I used this line to keep the mast in place after I got it up, by pulling it tight and taking it around the mast above the goose neck fitting and tie it off at the bow horn cleat. Then I could let go of everything and connect the fore stay and insert the other tabernacle pin.
The above procedure works great if you're young and strong and your boat doesn't have a roller furler. A roller furler can really throw the mast off balance and cause it to go over sideways if it's not guided properly. The same goes for the wind if it's blowing hard on the side of the mast or if the boat is leaning on one side. The stays will only support the mast when the mast is up and this is something that you need to remember because if the boat is leaning to one side, the mast will lean to that side and will go over that side and break off the tabernacle.
The best way I've found to raise a mast is with a Gin Pole which can be made of wood with some metal hardware. You could use a small boat winch mounted on the Gin Pole to pull the mast up, or you could use a good size boom vang or block & tackle set up like I do. The line on a boom vang probably won't be long enough so you would need to put a longer line on it as I have done.
Since I reached "Geezerdom", I've found that the Gin Pole is the way to go especially with a roller furler connected to the mast. Because I have a heavy furler and I raise/lower my mast by myself, I've gone the whole route and installed temporary stays (baby stays), and pivot bridles on my boat. This gear provides the mast lateral stability needed when the mast is either going up or coming down.
When you're raising your mast you want to keep an eye on the stays and turnbuckle toggles. Make sure nothing snags the stays and the stays don't get twisted. Take it slow and easy. That's it. I think that I covered everything except that you need to watch out for overhead wires and tree branches at the ramp when you get ready to launch your boat.
Joe
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Backwards, but it works!
My wife and I step the mast on our Oday 23 with it laying over the bow pulpit. After inserting the pin, we attach the main halyard to a cable going to the rear stantion, I lift the mast while she cranks the halyard on a winch. It really goes up pretty easy and I'm already forward to attach the forestay. The shrouds are already attached, just loose enough for the mast to go up. (make sure they don't catch on anything on the way up or you could bend something pretty easily) I then attach the backstay while she tensions one side of the stays, then I do the other and perform the "final tune" on all of them. We've gotten it down to about 20 minutes, start to finish....
My wife and I step the mast on our Oday 23 with it laying over the bow pulpit. After inserting the pin, we attach the main halyard to a cable going to the rear stantion, I lift the mast while she cranks the halyard on a winch. It really goes up pretty easy and I'm already forward to attach the forestay. The shrouds are already attached, just loose enough for the mast to go up. (make sure they don't catch on anything on the way up or you could bend something pretty easily) I then attach the backstay while she tensions one side of the stays, then I do the other and perform the "final tune" on all of them. We've gotten it down to about 20 minutes, start to finish....
My friend Ray steps the mast on his O'Day 26 that way also. He uses the boom for a Gin Pole and he has a home made mast crutch mounted on his bow pulpit with a roller in it so he can roll his mast forward to pin the tabernacle. His stays have triangular plates attached to them for boom bridles and the mast raising system seems to work OK.
There are a few disadvantages in mast raising over the bow, but if you only do it once a year, it's not too bad.
There are a few disadvantages in mast raising over the bow, but if you only do it once a year, it's not too bad.
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Joe:
If all goes as planned, I will be stepping the mast for the first time on my 222 in the spring. This won't be the year of the gin pole, although I look forward to such a setup in the future.
Can you expand on the roller furling jib problem? Is there a way to minimize the balance problem? Tie the jib/furler to the mast base? Sorry, but I may not be grasping the true essence of the problem.
-Dan
If all goes as planned, I will be stepping the mast for the first time on my 222 in the spring. This won't be the year of the gin pole, although I look forward to such a setup in the future.
Can you expand on the roller furling jib problem? Is there a way to minimize the balance problem? Tie the jib/furler to the mast base? Sorry, but I may not be grasping the true essence of the problem.
-Dan
The furler that I'm referring to is the one similar to what I have on my boat which has a vinyl luff that rides on the fore stay. The problem with a roller reefing furler like the CDI furler on my boat is that it adds more weight to the mast and someone is needed to hold the furler in line with the mast as it goes up. You can't tie the furler to the mast because it extends out beyond the foot of the mast when it's connected. This is why I tie the furler off to my Gin Pole about half way out away from my mast. As long as you have help getting the mast up with one designated person to hold the furler so that it is in line with the mast, I think you'll be OK. If you're raising from the stern have the wind coming directly toward the stern and make sure the boat is level from side to side.
I've always been able to get my mast up all by myself without the Gin Pole just by using the mast crutch on the stern and lifting with both hands while standing on the companionway hatch. My mast goes about 60 lbs and it's 27' long. Add the weight of the furler, and there's no way I could get that mast up by myself doing it that way. I don't think that I would even dare to attempt it by myself.
Here's the scenario: I start lifting the mast and the furler luff is left to bend and cause the drum to move around on the fore deck as the mast goes up. Then the unexpected happens. The furler drum fall off the bow of the boat as the mast is three quarters of the way up and the stays are still slack. The weight of the furler throws the mast off balance and the mast goes over the side bending the tabernacle and breaking the upper tabernacle plate off the mast! OMG !!!!
$$$$$$ :cussing:Guys, gin pole is the way to go- Ours is set up like that in Joes message of 12.04.11 - the one in the middle top. We put the winch ON the pole, released the inside stays, and just lowered it- you can hold it with two fingers.
You do have to release the forestay, and the furler, We let ours drag the 4 feet or so along the deck. Make sure you don't forget to keep checking the stays- I forgot to hold the backstay while turning the turnbuckle, and when we got it down, the backstay was ALL twisted up. $140 later, we have a new one.
BUT, all of that beat paying a yard to pull it own- $300 ($475 to raise). We're learning!
This spring we will be self-sufficient!
You do have to release the forestay, and the furler, We let ours drag the 4 feet or so along the deck. Make sure you don't forget to keep checking the stays- I forgot to hold the backstay while turning the turnbuckle, and when we got it down, the backstay was ALL twisted up. $140 later, we have a new one.
BUT, all of that beat paying a yard to pull it own- $300 ($475 to raise). We're learning!
This spring we will be self-sufficient!
In our 26, we lowered the mast in the reverse process as shown in the photos of Ray, above. We wrapped our CDI furler in a bath towel as we allowed the drum to slide forward and midships. I started the process with the furler drum aft of but near the mast. I purchased some 90 degree construction flat galvanized braces to be used as connection points for a shroud bridle. I don't have the optional mast raising hardware from O'Day. I used little stainless temporary links to connect the comstrction (deck building at Home Depot) braces to the shrouds, copying the idea of the optional mast raising system.
I made a 16' (2x6) mast crutch and put it on my trailer tongue with a friend holding it to receive the descending mast. I lowered it with my mainsheet and cam cleat only. I needed every inch of the mainsheet to get the mast to my waiting crutch. After "catching" the mast and lowering it to the pulpit to share the load, I simply pulled the tabernacle pins and we began the process of inching the mast into transport position. I was careful to support the floppy furling luff along the entire length of the mast and beyond (2x3 as a mast extension, just for the extra length of the luff and drum).
In the spring, I'll use a dedicated line on the boom end to a snatch block rigged amidships to an attachment point 10'6" aft of the mast, and winch it up with one of my winches. I'll rig a line from one side of the trailer to the other for the block since I'm moving my traveler to the coach roof this winter. If I still have the traveler track, I'll use that as the connection point for a block. Wish me luck.
I made a 16' (2x6) mast crutch and put it on my trailer tongue with a friend holding it to receive the descending mast. I lowered it with my mainsheet and cam cleat only. I needed every inch of the mainsheet to get the mast to my waiting crutch. After "catching" the mast and lowering it to the pulpit to share the load, I simply pulled the tabernacle pins and we began the process of inching the mast into transport position. I was careful to support the floppy furling luff along the entire length of the mast and beyond (2x3 as a mast extension, just for the extra length of the luff and drum).
In the spring, I'll use a dedicated line on the boom end to a snatch block rigged amidships to an attachment point 10'6" aft of the mast, and winch it up with one of my winches. I'll rig a line from one side of the trailer to the other for the block since I'm moving my traveler to the coach roof this winter. If I still have the traveler track, I'll use that as the connection point for a block. Wish me luck.
My two cent opinion and method for my new to me OD20. I have a mast crutch on the stern. The roller jib is velcro strapped to the mast from the base up to a point that I can reach when the mast is vertical, about 7.5'. I lift the mast beginning in the cockpit and working my way forward to the cabin top. At the same time, a helper stands on the bow and pulls on a line that is connected to the top of the mast. (The side stays are connected already.) When the mast is vertical, the helped ties off the line to the bow pulpit. The mast is now standing on its own. I then unstrap the jib from the mast and connect it to the bow. This has worked for me without the roller jib flopping to the side.
I'm working on a new method where I will install a vertical extension pole onto the trailer tongue. At the top of the pole will be a block. I have a 12v winch that will assist the helper in pulling the mast up (or letting it down).
I'm working on a new method where I will install a vertical extension pole onto the trailer tongue. At the top of the pole will be a block. I have a 12v winch that will assist the helper in pulling the mast up (or letting it down).
It sounds like you also have a plan Andy. Stop down to our club next year and I'll give you the grand tour. We're always looking for new members. http://www.shawometyachtclub.com/
Joe
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