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Mast raising questions

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paulb
1st Mate

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USA
29 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2006 : 00:13:57

Hi Capt. Kurt,

You need the "Baby Stays" unless you have help to steady the mast in calm conditions.

I bought the Mast raising strap and used it one time and from then on use the Jib Halyard as I have a furler anyway and the Jib Halyard does not get used otherwise.

My boat originaly came with only one set of gudgeons for the rudder and I had to unship my rudder at each mast raising. I noticed a bit of slop in the gudgeons, so I replaced them with new and mounted the old ones just port of the new and slightly higher. Workes great and now I can leave the rudder in place.

My boat also came with a gin pole winch setup. I modified the trailer so that it is similar to the new set-up for mast raising with the telescoping roller at the front of the trailer. I added an extra winch so I would not have to add an additional line from the trailer winch. Works great, although I am keeping the gin pole in case I ever have to lower and raise the mast on the water.

Edited by - on

Capt. Kurt
Navigator

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185 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 16:39:22

I successfully lowered / raised the mast this weekend and wanted to thank everyone for the tips!

Those baby stays worked great and really added to the safety of the procedure.

Here are some of the lessons learned from my first trailering of Tortuga.
- 10" Tie wraps worked great to keep the rigging from blowing around and are simple to remove. (suggested by someone on this site, sorry forgot who!)
- Removing the jib pin required loosening of all other stays (was hoping to use spare jib halyard to loosen enough to pull pin, but that didnt work for me. maybe my shrouds were too tight?)
- Putting a twist in the tow straps definately eliminated the vibrations while driving (thanks Arlyn)
- Tie wrap the halyard blocks at the base of the mast up against the mast step to prevent them from rubbing on the deck while transporting on trailer.
- The 4 inch trucker straps and winches worked great (thanks Kieth D for the idea) I will post a pic of the upgrade soon.
- Boom seems stressed while in crutches and needs to be supported in the center. (Its 21.5" from boom to mast step bolt, need to make a support to fit there)
- Lowering the mast takes surprisingly little effort on the winch handle. Was a little nervous the first time but the gearing on the trailer winch is very high. Just take it slow and make sure nothing gets hung up on the way down /up. The shrouds did manage to get caught up in things.
- Took 3 hours the first time, 1.5 the second.
- Extra SS cotter pins came in handy
- You need to take care when setting the main halyard on raising. If the halyard goes to high up the mast then the mast raising webbing (or in my case dacron line) will push hard against the lower shrouds. It should not make contact with the shrouds which means you need to leave enough slack in the main halyard to allow it to hang lower on the mast. This is not really mentioned in the manual that I could find.

Kurt
#818 C250WK 'Tortuga'

Edited by - Capt. Kurt on 01/24/2006 16:45:54

johnsonp
Admiral

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USA
606 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 18:10:28

Kurt
Losen the rear mast stay only at the "Y".
Then pull mast forward with winch and remove jib jib pin.

paulj C250 wk #719

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kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2006 : 11:19:15

I have never lowered the mast with the kit, but I can say that on a WK, the upper shrouds are tight enough when properly rigged (proper according to manual, Arlyns' advice and rigger) that the jib halyard cannot overcome them. Both the Catalina manual and the rigger that rigged my boat suggest loosening all the shrouds before lowering the mast. The rigger suggests a certain number of turns, which will make it easy to get things back in rig when when you put the mast up again.

Not an expert, but FWIW.

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Capt. Kurt
Navigator

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185 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2006 : 12:20:37

Thanks, Glad to know its not just me that had that problem! Good idea counting turns though.

Kurt
#818 C250WK 'Tortuga'

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bear
Admiral

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USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2006 : 13:04:57

Kurt, When I lower the mast each year in the fall and before I unscrew the turnbuckles I count the number of threads outside of each turnbuckle and write that number down on the side of the boat next to the chainplate. The rear forestay I write down next to one of the rear shroud attach points. Never have touched the forestay turnbuckle though. I can even trust my crew now to tighten the turnbuckles up and just let me count threads when they are finished.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.