Day Sailor mast stepping

[NevisTyphoon]

After 20 years on the hard, and a 2 year restoration, Combolo is finally ready to get wet again this week (I hope).

Stepping the mast seems like it may be a bit of trick, what with the hole in the cubby, instead of a fixed mounting point. Don't want to chew up my new gel-coat. Any tips would be most appreciated!

I'll post pics of her re-maiden voyage if we are successful!

Best Regards,

[Jeff D]

Chris,

I have the same boat and have not risked stepping the mast by hand. I also have a Bullseye which has much the same set up in regard to a keel step and a small hole in the cuddy top. I can comfortably step the Bullseye mast, although just barely (no injuries to date). The CD mast is 5+ feet longer and I think one mast section larger (and heavier). Maybe I am chicken, but $50 for the crane seems like short money to me.

Jeff

[NevisTyphoon]

Thanks for the feedback, Jeff!

But there are no boatyards in Nevis - we have to do this by hand. It would probably cost me about $500US to get the one crane on island to come out to lift the mast. This is island life, mahn - we have to do this by hand - machinery be expensive. Preferably with coconut palm trees cut up to roll her out - that kind of thing.

I'm sure there are other folks who have stepped the mast in a daysailer by hand and most likely it's not that bigga deal. I've got lots of help. Will an Iwo Jima moment do the trick?

[Russell]

Hmm, launch her, raft up to a boat with a much larger mast, use larger boats halyards as a crane? With care on a calm day I think this would be doable, just to be slow and careful not to tangle the two rigs and have a few strong guys on hand to manhandle the mast to the step. Rig will lean towards the side where the larger boat is, attach forestay, backstay and the one sides shrouds, then use brute manpower to push rig fully upright and attach other side, a block and tackle would be handy here.

Note I have never done this, but dont see why it would not work with some planning and care.

Hope all is well in Nevis! Sailed by a couple weeks ago but schedules did not allow for a stop.

[NevisTyphoon]

You guys are making this so difficult! I step the same size mast on my Windrider 17 a couple of times a year on shore with only one buddy, and it's no heavier than the Typhoon's. Only difference is that we have a ball to attach it to prior to lifting, one on the forestay, and one walking it up. Piece of pie. Is the Typhoon so different I have to have a crane?

And Russel - an open invitation to stop by Nevis if you're in the neighborhood - moorings right outside my back door!

[Oswego John]

Hi Chris,

No crane? I'm going to ask you what you might think are foolish questions.

Are there any docks or piers near you?

Do you have any decent tideoffs in Nevis?

Any bridges you can stand on to install the mast?

If not, then look up in the archives on how others have built single and double legged gin poles to raise the mast. Some of them are pretty ingenious.

You can get some good ideas if you Google "Stepping A Mast".

My older, early model Typhoons don't have tabernacles. They have keel based masts which have to pass through a hole in the cuddy roof. I used a home made, pyramid shaped, self standing "gin pole ?" to raise and lower my masts in and out through the cuddy passage.

I sistered 2"x4"s to gain enough elevation and braced them mid way to take the flex out of them. Your mast is roughly 26' long. The spreaders are about half way up, 13'. Allow a few feet extra for a loose noose that lifts the mast from underneath the spreaders. Make it high enough so that you don't two-block.

Install a sheave at the top of the pyramid structure and also at its base. You can either use a coaming winch to lift or you can usr the trailer winch.

Good luck,
O J

[NevisTyphoon]

I almost called your name in my last post, OJ, as you have helped me so much in the past on this project to get this sad, abandoned hull wet again.

And alas, it seems that the consensus, verified by you, is that my Iwo Jima approach is not to be. I've seen on the web the rigs people have made to step their masts, and I guess I will have to retrench and finagle the time to make me one. I have to go off island next week, so it will probably have to wait until I return in March

[Jim Davis]

Here is one solution used by the Chesapeake Alberg 30 Fleet.
It consists of a home made aluminium "A Frame". Seems a bit on the wild side but it works. I have assisted in using it. Just be careful and think the whole thing through before you start.

http://www.alberg30.org/maintenance/Spa ... ppingMast/

[Russell]

You guys are making this so difficult! I step the same size mast on my Windrider 17 a couple of times a year on shore with only one buddy, and it's no heavier than the Typhoon's. Only difference is that we have a ball to attach it to prior to lifting, one on the forestay, and one walking it up. Piece of pie. Is the Typhoon so different I have to have a crane?

Dunno. I have stepped the mast on a Catalina 22 with just two people and no special setups (other then raw strength and planning) it did not have a tabernackle. I figured this was not an option since you asked in the first place. I agree that it really should not be terribly difficult, its a small rig.

[Carl Thunberg]

My loving wife bears a scar right between her eyes from a mast-raising exercise that went bad almost twenty years ago. We were raising the mast on our Rhodes 18, which is a keel-stepped mast. We thought we could do it Iwo Jima style, too. Hey, we were young and strong! When we failed, the butt end of the mast caught her right between the eyes. And guess whose briliant idea it was to muscle it in with just the two of us Whenever I propose something really stupid, my wife simply lifts her hair and points. I get the message right away. Be careful. A little testosterone can overcome a lot of education.

[Dan & Chris]

We do this twice a year, and have gotten it to a point where it's pretty much comfortable as a two-person job. We only do this when the boat's out of the water, since the added motion when afloat could make it dicey. Our general procedure is:

1) Lay the mast over the boat, masthead forward, foot aft.
2) Tie one shroud on each side, and the forestay, to their attachment points with about 6' of line. This will keep the mast from toppling if there are control issues during the lift, while still leaving enough slack for you to lift the butt over the cuddy.
3) Walk the mast upright; the smaller person controls the mast butt in the cockpit, moving forward from the tiller area to the cuddy, while the stronger person stands on the cuddy and brings the mast vertical. The person in the cockpit must keep the mast butt down as the masthead rises, almost touching the bottom of the cockpit.
4) When the mast is vertical, and everyone is ready, the mast is lifted straight up, slightly forward, and then down through the cuddy hole in one smooth motion. It's critical that the person in the cockpit keeps the butt under control.
5) All done, hook her up.

Try not to do it on a windy day!

Dan and Chris

[NevisTyphoon]

So that's the trick I hadn't thought of - bring the mast vertical first, and then raise up and through the hole. Although I don't see how I can attach the forestay with only 6' of line when the mast is horizontal.

I'll have a half-dozen folks around, so that should be easy. Of course the wind always blows here - will video it in case it becomes a candidate for failblog.com

Thanks!

[Dan & Chris]

Although I don't see how I can attach the forestay with only 6' of line when the mast is horizontal.

Since the masthead is forward when horizontal, there should be enough slack as you raise it. You're only going to be lifting it about 3 feet when you put it in the cuddy, and when vertical before you lift the mast is only about 1 or 2 feet back.

But if you have extra people, I wouldn't bother tying off the shrouds and backstays: just put longer extensions on them, and have the extra people tend them. You should have even more control that way, and the backstay tender can help you bring the mast vertical. Just make sure that the person in the cockpit keeps the mast butt down and under control during the raise and lift: if it gets away from them, there's no recovery.

Good luck!

Dan and Chris

[NevisTyphoon]

Thanks for the clarification - I had read it too fast. Masthead forward - it all makes even more sense now!

[rtbates]

The PO of Seraph made a mast raising system using a mast from a Hobie. Basically just make a support footing for it so it can sit on the deck in front of the mast. Use your genoa sheets to hold it side to side and back and use another line to secure it forward. Then use the halyard on the 'Hobie' mast to raise your mast vertical. Position over hole and lower. I've yet to use it but he said he used it and it works.
good luck