From: spencer@panix.com (David Spencer)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Step/Unstep mast?
Date: 5 Oct 92 22:39:25 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC

tomb@atp.serum.kodak.com (Tom "USA" Bullinger (x37419)) writes:


>Well, I just received my contract for winter storage for this year. The price
>for stepping and unstepping the mast has more than doubled. Now I don't know
>about the rest of you, but I really can't afford $120 for something that
>appears this trivial. Does anyone have any thoughts on how I could
>accomplish this task myself? I remember seeing an older couple unstepping
>their mast before a trip up the canal. They seemed to use a 'V' shaped 
>thing with the base straddling the mast base, but out at the rail, and the
>halyard was attached to the tip of the V.

Three methods: 
 
1. If you've got a bridge or a pier that's at about the height of the
mast's balance point (roughly the spreaders on a fractional rig), you
can pull it by hand quite easily. At Sachem's Head, we pull all the
Sonar masts from a footbridge over the harbor; on Martha's Vineyard we
pull masts from the yacht club dock. (I'll use "bridge" to mean
"bridge or pier")
 
Put two people on the bridge and one on the boat. Stick the bow under 
the bridge so that the mast is about a foot from the bridge deck. 
Remove all stays and anything else connecting the mast to the boat. 
Tie a loop around the mast under the spreaders and around something on 
the bridge (so you don't lose the mast if you drop it). All three lift 
the mast out. (Aluminum masts aren't heavy, just unweildy. They're 
easy to control from the balance point however.) 
 
When the mast butt clears the deck, one person on the bridge holds the 
mast at the balance point, and one (the tallest person you can find) 
walks about six feet down the bridge. The person on the boat pivots 
the mast around the person at the balance point to the person that's 
six feet down the bridge. That's it. 
 
You put it back in the same way. 
 
2. The inverted V thing you alluded to is great (although I've always 
called it an A frame). If you go to lots of big regattas, the line for 
the ginpole is usually longer than the line for the lift. So lots of 
people carry their own ginpole. 
 
A few pointers: 
 
4x4's with 2x4 bracing are fine. Put a cross brace or two between the 
legs of the inverted V (so it really is an A). 
 
Make sure the height of the block at the top is > distance from deck 
to spreaders + distance from mast plate to deck level + fudge factor 
(say a foot). Nothing worse than being an inch too short... 
 
Hang a block from the top and run a the lifting line through it. The 
lifting line needs to be at least 3x the distance from deck to 
spreader. You can add some parts to the tackle if you need additional 
mechanical advantage to lift the mast. 
 
Have three non-stretch lines permanently attached to the top of the 
rig for "standing rigging". When you set it up, run one line to the 
bowcleat and the other two through the jibsheet blocks. Whale it down 
_real_tight_; you want this to be very stable. 
 
Tie one end of the lifting line in a loop around the mast. One person 
pulls the mast up with the lifting line; another guides the mast. When 
the mast butt clears the deck, pivot to clear the partners and lay the 
mast down on the deck. 
 
Caveat: I've never seen anyone do this while the boat's in the water. 
It's not something I'd recommend; the platform's too unstable. 
 
3. If you have a crew of impatient gorillas without much sense (like 
our crew after a long regatta), just lift it out from the deck -- 
after you've pulled the boat. Leave the backstay on to stabilize; two 
gorrilas pull it so it just clears the flange then slowly pivot it on 
the back of the partners to a third gorilla in the back of the boat. 
It helps to have a couple of people with stabilizing lines out to the 
front and sides (run the lines up with the jib halyard). 
 
Don't do this if there's any wind. In fact, it's pretty dumb to do it 
at all. But it's not impossible if you're careful. 

dhs    spencer@panix.com
"There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth
          doing as simply messing around in boats"
-Kenneth Grahame, _The Wind in the Willows_
Newsgroups: rec.boats