Re: Bad mast raising experience

From: Dennis W. Farrell (dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us)
Date: Mon Apr 10 2000 - 22:01:39 PDT


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
        West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
                dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
           List hosted by www.tscnet.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nancy: what's the state of your morale by now?

A lot of people do rig and sail boats the size of the 19 by themselves.
Judy Blumhorst, who I think is about your size, can do it though she prefers
a bit of initial help.

A lot of people have done a lot of thinking about mast raising. There seem
to be three general approaches: A-frames, gin poles, and "prop-it-up". My
personal feeling is that A-frames and gin poles are unnecessary
complications. I have no trouble raising the masts on my P-15, M-15, and
Vagabond 17 by myself. I have a size advantage on you, but I don't think
the principles change that much.

With your current set-up, can you walk us through, step by step, what you do
to raise you r mast, and what equipment/fittings you have? As Robert
Skinner said - there is a way. It will help us help you if you tell us
about your set-up.

[I know, I know - step 1 - find an unreliable yard-boy <G>]

Cheers -- dwf

-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy E. Wigal <newigal@hotmail.com>
To: wwpotter@tscnet.com <wwpotter@tscnet.com>
Date: Monday, April 10, 2000 04:17
Subject: Bad mast raising experience

>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
> dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
> List hosted by www.tscnet.com
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
>Had a mast raising disaster Friday. I was all set to take "Baydream,"
>my brand spanking new P19 out on her maiden voyage. Went on down to the
>marina and the dock boy offered to help me the raise the mast. Being 5"
>21/2" and 110 lbs., I accepted his offer, ASSUMING (you know what THAT
does)
>he knew how to step a mast.
>>
>I rigged up the arrangement with the gin pole, line, etc., and told the guy
>I was gonna haul away while he guided the mast STRAIGHT up, until the mast
>reached the point of easy hauling. Well, somehow he lost hold of the mast,
>and it flew straight over to the port side of the boat, severely bending
the
>mast step plate. I was sick with disappointment. I had several thoughts:
>kill the dock boy (not good), haul the boat over to either Dahlgren or Pax
>River and have the Navy practice guided missile exercises on it (just a
>brief thought, it left real quick), scream, cry or die. I did none of the
>above. I told the guy not to worry about it. He did seem genuinely
contrite.
>
>The mast is fine, and appears to have suffered no visible damage.
>>
>I went over to BoatUS, conveniently located 15 minutes away and filed a
>claim. They called IM and reported it. Glenn called me when I got home
later
>that day, and confirmed I need a new mast step plate. It’s gonna be a mess
>to replace the darn thing, because the plate is bolted to the bottom of the
>mast with screws that disappear up inside the mast, of course. Looks like
>the rivets will need to be drilled out and the new plate attached, with the
>bottom re-riveted. Glenn says those are stainless steel rivets and are
>probably not readily easy to replace with a hand-held rivet tool. Great.
>>
>Lesson learned: don’t assume people who work at a marina full of sail
>boats know how to step a mast.
>>
>What I now need is some help. Should the baby stays be taut? I have
>them loose. Since the mast raising rig is on the port side of boat, it
makes
>sense that the mast would want to travel to the left. Any thoughts, tips,
>suggestions or help on how to avoid this disaster in the future? I accept
>the fact I will always need assistance to step the mast. I have no problem
>with that. Unfortunately, I will almost always sail alone, so I will be
>canvassing the launch ramp for a willing volunteer. I have had some real
>serious thoughts about this boat now. I am scared to death to entertain the
>notion of trailering the boat. I have this thought that the boat and mast
>have beaten me, that I’ll have to set it up at a marina in the permanent
>mast raised position, thus spoiling my dream of trailering this thing up
and
>down the length of the Chesapeake Bay, sailing at various locations. I
>really wonder if this boat is all that portable. Perhaps it is if I
>were a larger individual with more lead in my can, I don’t know.
>>
>If any of you all out there can give me some constructive, positive
>feedback, I’ll take it. I’ve never rigged a sail boat like this before. Not
>to criticize IM, but the owner’s manual leaves a lot to be desired. I find
>it hard to believe that an individual who has never rigged a sailboat like
>this can take that book and successfully rig the vessel. Maybe it’s just
me.
>
>I’m pretty hard on myself right now, beating myself up and saying "If
>only this…, if only that…" which is no good.
>>
>So, I feel a little bruised and battered right now, having to delay the
>maiden voyage of my boat. I even bought a bottle of cheap champagne to POUR
>over the bow. (Don’t want to do that smashing thing across a fiberglass
>bow…just doesn’t work as well as the launchings I’ve seen down at Newport
>News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company).
>>
>Bottom line is, I’ll get over it. One day I’ll even laugh about it. So,if
>any of you experienced Potter owners out there can give me some advice,I’ll
>take it. Otherwise, I’m going to marina shopping for a slip real soon.
>>
>Thanks for listening,
>>
>Nancy E. Wigal
>HMS 1135 P19 "Baydream"
>>
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 30 2000 - 03:27:10 PDT