Cape Dory 30 cutter, masthead sheaves replacement.

[Galliard]

Hi y'all,

The masthead sheaves on my CD30 are completely frozen and I'd need to know their exact dimensions in order to replace them. Also, can the job be done without taking the mast off? I have access to a genie lift and was wondering if I can replace the sheaves without removing the masthead fitting first, from the lift's platform.

Thanks.

[Oswego John]

Maybe you could try to loosen the sheaves up with one something like Liquid Wrench, Kroil or some other similar penetrating oil. Then lubricate them with grease.

Good luck,
O J

[Maine_Buzzard]

Just walked out to the back yard with a flashlight- will take a picture in the daylight tomorrow.

Sorry, the forestay toggle will keep the front sheaves from coming out. The aft ones might clear. There is a thin spreader plate between the P&S sheaves, so removal might be tricky. It looks like the masthead is open enough to lose the sheave down the mast if you push the loose sheave in.

To remove, there is a 1/4" bolt and nylock nut. Take two 7/16" wrenches up the mast. I'd bring some coathanger and tape to make a retainer to keep them from moving around too much after the bolt is out. You'll want a 1/4 bronze drift up there too.

Can't measure very well, if you wait until the weekend, I'll pull them. I was about to offer to make some bronze replacements, but they are ball bearing sheaves. If you can't find replacements, see me about custom parts- I do not charge boatyard rates...

[Galliard]

Thanks! That's very valuable information before my trip to the top of the mast. A picture would be great also, if you can snap one.

[Matt Cawthorne]

My 36 has bronze shives. By the time you get them out, you will have had to free them up enough so that you can just grease them and put them back. As mentioned earlier, give them a shot of penetrating oil first.

[Maine_Buzzard]

Here are the shots. If you could rely on the lowers, and remove the fore and aft stay, you could do this in the air.

Why not use the genie lift to hoist the mast and do the fixes on the ground. Everyone needs some wiring work and other spiffing...

1/4" bolt, about 2 1/4" long, nylock nut. One of my bolts was worn and bent. 7/16" wrenches to remove.

OK, so mine were a bit dry too...
You can see how the toggle needs to lift up to let the sheave out.


Bronze sheaves, steel sleeve.


This is the splitter betwen the sheaves. Fatter end goes forward.

[grluecke]

Hi, i wonder if you can tell me where you got the spinnaker bail on your masthead?
I need one of those!

[JWSutcliffe]

Here you go:

http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/SparParts/ ... er%20Bails

[grluecke]

Hey, yes, I saw those pages, but those fittings do not have the "wrap around" side flanges that i see On Maine_Buzzard's photo.

I have some old junk on top of my masthead, and I would like to tie that fitting into my forestay.

The ones on that link are just plates on top of the masthead fitting. Those can work ( can anyone tell me if a CD30 has enough space for a 4-bolt-pattern bail?? 2 bolts, I 'm worrying about!!)

Ahh, but wrapping that around and tying it into my fore-stay, THAT would make me me happy...

Did you get that from RigRite??

[Keith]

My bail fail a few weeks ago with the spinnaker, block and halyard crashing into Nantucket sound and the sock acting as a wonderful sea anchor until I finally got it aboard. Ah the joys of a single handed sailor! Haven't been up the mast to check it out yet and will probably just wait till it's hauled out in Oct. It appears that the weld failed as best I can tell from the deck I'll update everyone when I finally get an upclose look at it.

Keith

[Maine_Buzzard]

Wow, that was some serious cardiac resuscitation! The thread was two years old...

I have no idea where the bail originated, and I suspect it was a factory add on. No spinnaker pole track on my mast, but one of the POs added a symmetrical chute some time back. No other shots of the bail are around, and Guppy is in Tenant's Harbor for the week.

You could hit Rigrite up for a custom quote, it might be less than you expect. The SP-083-1 would certainly hold with four 1/4-20 screws tapped into the masthead.

[GeorgeH]

What a timely discussion about spinnaker bails. I was thinking about buying a spinnaker for Spartina but couldn't figure out how to hoist it since I only have two halyards. So what I got from the thread is that I need to attach a spinnaker bail to the front of the masthead, then attach some sort of block and then run a halyard through it and secure it at the base of the mast?

[Keith]

Hi George,

I think that you have it. With one exception you can attach the halyard to a cleat on the mast in the area for your main and genie cleats not at the base of the mast. I would suggest an asymmetrical with a sock. No messing with poles and extra lines. If you go with the asymmetrical then you will also need an attach point at the bow. I put mine about 9 inches ahead of the forestay on the bow sprit. Simply a SS u-bolt with a backing plate on the bottom side of the sprit.

It is awesome in under 10 knots! With the failed bail I can't use it now. but on the good side the wind has been 15+ on Nantucket sound for the last few weeks.

Enjoy!

Keith

[Maine_Buzzard]

Ditto for Keith's suggestion. Absolutely, put a U bolt or plate forward of the forestay to use a chute. You can also grab a used symmetrical racing spinnaker from Bacon or Minnies and get plenty of downwind pull from that.

Use two snap shackles on a 3' lead for the tack, and when you go to douse, turn the boat so the main blankets the sail, and pop the tack off the shackle. Pull it back to the clew and use the lazy sheet to gather the two corners and start collapsing the sail at the foot. Drop it down the forward hatch and save the cost of a sock.

You don't need a winch on the mast to haul, and 3/8" line is big enough for a 28 or 30.

[Steve Laume]

Raven had a symmetrical spinnaker that was too big for her. When I got it set up and the conditions were right, it pulled like a freight train. I always set it up alone so it took a while and the fact that it was too big caused me to find a used asymmetrical. The asymmetrical is much easier to rig but just not the same. With the old chute I could go straight down wind and veer off a good bit. The new one will not fly straight down wind. It is far less work to rig and jibe. Plus it fits the boat.

I do have a sock and would very strongly recommend getting one unless you always have an experienced crew on board. I added another cleat on the mast but did not add another winch. I hoist the sail in the sock and take a couple of wraps on the jib winch and then cleat it off. You do not need a winch to hoist as there is no pull on the sail at that time. For the tack, I drilled a hole in my, rather substantial, Windline bow roller and added a block. I run a long line with a snap shackle through the bow block. This allows me to clip the shackle to the life line when I am sorting out the sail and then clip it to the tack. The other end is taken back to the bow cleat. Once the sail is at full hoist I can pull the tack forward and recleat it. The reverse is true when dousing.

I had a reacher without a sock for a while and it could be a bear to get down at times. I got a nasty rope burn once and landed a portion of it in the water more than once. It also has a sock on it now. These are bit powerful sails. It is easy to leave them up too long while the wind builds and then you want to be able to get the thing down.

So my two and a half cents says to practice safe sail handling and put a sock on it, Steve.