RE: Bad mast raising experience

From: Judith Franklin Blumhorst, DC (DrJudyB@pacbell.net)
Date: Mon Apr 10 2000 - 23:25:50 PDT


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Hi Nancy,

I'm 5'5" and 110 pounds. And,as Dennis says, I can raise the mast almost by
myself. I do need about 30 seconds of initial help. I usually ask some male
passerby to lift it up two feet above the standard mast crutch for thirty
seconds while I crank it up with the winch on my boat. (I may have
eliminated the need for initial help with the "Mast-Up" telescoping mast
crutch I just got).

The KEY ingredients to any system you use is

(1) use the baby stays that go from the mast to the cabin top to prevent
side to side swaying of the mast and

(2) use mechanical advantage (pulley system or a winch) to help raise it and
have a way to stop part way up if you need to un-snag a shroud that has
caught on something.

>From the sound of your first time disaster, your baby shrouds weren't tight
enough. They should be fairly snug, so you can pull them sideways only
about 1 inch. That keeps the mast from swaying sideways. I removed the
clumsy adjusters that came with my boat and just used strong line (thin
spectra)to tie them to the U-bolts, so I could get 4:1 mechanical advantage
to get them tight enough.

The mast raising system from IM works very well, but many of us have devised
other systems. If you have the IM system, use it for now. Maybe when
you're more used to your boat, you can copy someone's other system that's
faster.

The best system I know is Jerry Barrilleaux'. He uses the the winch on his
trailer and a telescoping mast crutch. The trailer winch is great with its
12:1 mechanical advantage. You could run the winch strap (rope wont
fit)over a pin in the bow pulpit where the mast foot attaches for
trailering. Tie a bowline knot on the hoisting end of the man halyard (at
about boom heigth and hook the winch strap to the knot. Crank on the winch
until you can attach the forestay.

I use my main halyard running from the top of the mast thru a pulley on the
bow pulpit and back to a winch. I have a rope clutch (fancy kind of cleat)
on the main halyard so I can stop any time I want to go unsnag a shroud --
but I'd like to convert to the trailer winch setup. It's quicker.

For pictures of Jerry's system in action go to
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=274007&a=2038826

It's a shame your mast step hinge got bent the first time you tried to raise
the mast, but please don't loose heart. It's not a hard job to remove and
replace it. Everybody breaks something on a new-to-them boat. Sailboats
have alot of complicated gadgets on them that a new owner can break -- thank
goodness the Potters are relatively simple boats.

I DO agree with you that the owner's manual needs a lot of improvement.
Personally, I think they ought to do a video of how to rig the boat.

Fair winds, Judy B
1985 WWP19 #266 Redwing

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis W. Farrell [mailto:dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us]
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 10:02 PM
To: WWPotter Mailing List
Subject: Re: Bad mast raising experience

-----------<<snipped>>-----------
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.

 --------<<snipped>>---------------

>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"
>>
>
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