Rudimentary Gin pole mast lifting.

[paul anderson]

I enlisted the help of a couple of lads and a liveaboard to help me lift my mast on Saturday.A combination of strong winds and fecklessness saw the mast come crashing down on my shoulder as I was propping it up with a step ladder. Lol,I have two tram line bruised across the one shoulder blade where the ropes got between me and the the impact of the mast. I called off the mast raising that day.

This morning armed with a gin pole made out of scrap timber and the glint of a rugged individualist in my eyes I raised the mast on my own in winds gusting to 20knts.

The lesson I learned here was that sometimes it's just better to do things yourself,regardless of how keen the helpers are.

All good now.

[paul anderson]

Bao Ya said:

As they say: stripes are earned, wait, or is that learned?  ;-) LOLZ

[paul anderson]

Edward Wolfe said:

Glad you survived your "help".  It seems I too must relearn every few years the true value of unskilled "help".  Congratulations on your success. 

It may be a case in some instances of the flesh being willing but the greymatter has gone walkabout.Discerning this is an art in itself.

[Shaun]

Brilliant work Matey, stoked to see her at the beach! It's been a while since I've been on the site.

Got two questions;

1) How long is the gin pole?

2) Is the winch line secured at the gin pole head or free running?

[paul anderson]

1. 8ft.

2 .Free running.

In fact I have taken the mast down twice since these pics where taken.My mast is timber and a heavy S.O.B. I glassed it too.I feel so confident in the system now..

A couple of things I learned...

Do not trust a trailer winches ratchet to stay in gear,secure it with a loop of rope or bungee when attending to the lines.

Try as best as you can to get the mast to lower/raise in above the centre line of the boat.This can be tricky on an angled beach with a gusty wind added to the mix.

I use as many of the lines on the mast as as i can to manipulate the raising/lowering.Slackening the lines on one side and tightening them on the other helps with the direction of the mast as it raises/lowers.

No sudden jarring ie slackening off of a line too fast,unless you like living on the wild side.It's all incremental. To lower and raise and rig the mast takes me the best part of a day solo.

When the foot of the mast is on the pedestal and you have slackened off the the anti kick lines at the base of the mast. Ie two short lengths of rope secured to the hardware and the cleats at the base. Sometime the mast will not '' slot in '' use a spanish windlash to pull it into position.

Slowly,slowly catchee monkey.