Mast Raising

 

I went ahead and got the "mast raising system" from Schock and quickly decided that it takes too long to connect everything up for the advantage it gives (does anybody want to buy this cheap?). It is faster and not that much more effort to just push the mast up, once everything else is ready, of couse. I do all of this single handed.

 

First, I roll the mast back on the aft crutch roller shown here. I hook the through bolt into the slots at the mast step.

 

Next, I get out my single-handing secret weapon. It is a 6 foot piece of line with a clip on one end that I keep in the bow locker. I clip this line to an eyestrap (which was already there on the boat) at the very front of the bow and trail the line back to the mast step and leave it there, laying on the cabin top.

 

Then (the most important part) I lay the shrouds on the cabin top, arranged such that I can guarantee myself that they will not get hung up on anything as the mast goes up. This is easier than it sounds.

 

When every thing looks right, I put the mast on my shoulder and just push it up in one fast motion. By doing it fast and in one motion, the momentum is such that there is no side sway or any possibility of tipping it any way but the one you want it to go in. After it is vertical it is locked into the step and the shrouds keep it on the centerline.

 

Now here is where my secret weapon comes in. Since I am single handed, I have no way to keep the mast up while I attached the forestay/jib (now hopefully dangling close to the bow). I grab the line from the cabin top and secure it to the topping lift cleat partway up the mast. Since the mast is vertical, it doesn't take much force (or have that much strain on the line) to hold it up while I attach the forestay.

 

There was a trick with the shroud turnbuckles that was a problem from the beginning (even the dealer did this). I needed to loosely wrap a bungee or line around the two turnbuckles to keep them from flopping over in opposite directions from each other during the mast raising "ceremony". This would cause hangups and twisted/bent metal if not done.

 

My solution was to permanently put a short piece of bungee cord between the new turnbuckle covers. This was done by placing a knot inside each cover with the bungee coming out of a hole on the correct side. This alone shaved 2-3 minute off of my setup time and another 5 minutes of lost or misplaced loose bungees. Unfortunately this picture washed out, but you can see the bungee coming out of the larger turnbuckle cover on this side.

 

Now I never worry about the hangups (hasn't happened in 2 years).

 

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