I have a Hunter 28 that I sail up in Maine. When I am sailing dead down wind (or nearly) I use my boom van to hold the boom to one side but always wished I had a whisker pole to hold my Genoa out on the opposite side. I have looked at several web sites and catalogs and have found that "real" whisker poles are quite expensive. I would not be using it is winds over 15 knots so it wouldn't have to be super strong. Has anyone made their own whisker pole? What did you use for the shaft and the ends? How did you connect it to the Genoa and the mast (or did you use a different attachment points)? Thanks for any feedback.