Virtual Moral Support with my rigging

[chrisings]

The yard stepped our Cat 30 mast early and we did not have our bimini frame mounted. Of course the back stay goes between two of the bows so to put it on now the back stay needs to come off. I have assured the admiral (dear wife) that the main sheet halyard, properly secured to one of the stern cleats, will support the mast just fine and allow the back stay to be temporally removed so we can install the bimini. I have never done this before but feel fairly confident this should work just fine. The admiral, not so much. To the point where now she has me doubting my plan.

So wise forum folk, what say you? Am I nuts or will this work? (she has visions of the mast crashing down on the deck)
Thanks!

 

[kappykaplan]

Your plan to use the main halyard to support the mast is fine.

 

[woodster]

are you accident prone lol...... if so she may have good cause...but really you should be just fine ...just think out your plan and then do it when she is at the mall ...get a buddy to help you ...or you can disassemble the frame and install it one piece at a time without removing the backstay

 

[njlarry]

Did this last year. Not a big deal. Just winch your halyard tight, no need to slack the forestay.
I am sure that the lower stays would support the mast but the halyard was easily rigged and made me feel more comfortable.
You'll be fine.

 

[Skipper]

Can the Bimini frame be disassembled instead, and reassembled around the backstay?
It's likely just allen bolts(?)

 

[chrisings]

Can the Bimini frame be disassembled instead, and reassembled around the backstay?

That is a possibility I considered, however, it's fairly old and I'm afraid fasteners may be corroded/stripped and will break when attempting to disassemble. Removing the back stay, in my mind, would be far easier. I may attempt to disassemble it first and see how that goes.

 

[The Garbone]

My bikini frame snapped together inside of the turn of the risers ( hidden by the bikini). The bows should be replaceable as different lengths are used depending on beam of the boat. I hit the metal snap type locks with some PB blaster and they loosened up after a few days of treatment to break up the corrosion.

 

[The Garbone]

Ha. Bimini auto corrects to bikini.

I would go with taking apart the bimini as it sound like you will be replacing the cloth in the future, better to work the fasteners before the degrade even more.

 

[JohnVTX]

You can disconnect and install bimini. If you feel more secure use halyard.

 

[Jackdaw]

Do what you say.. Take the main halyard back to an aft cleat. Load it up on a winch. Once the Hali is tight the backstay should slack enough for you to turn it by hand. That should give her the confidence that it's OK to take off.

 

[chrisings]

Thanks all for the support and insight. All went surprisingly well. Halyard, as most of you knew, held the mast in place just fine. Now on to that leaking muffler I discovered today while performing spring commissioning. Ah the joys of boating.