The halyard allows me to cleat off and take the weight of the mast while lowering and raising with it in an intermediate position if I get a shroud or halyard caught on something (which I seem to do too regularly). With the halyard cleated that frees up a hand to take care of the defugelty. On May 24, 2014, at 9:20 PM, Bill Tosh <billt@eastex.net> wrote:
Then you must be 19 years old and MACHO !..... We at 60+ AIN'T !!!!!
-----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Rick Davies Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2014 8:59 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Mast lowering
Wilson,
I don't understand. If you're taking the weight of the mast on your arms and shoulder, why do you need the halyard? If it's only taking a moderate strain, you must be taking the rest. I can lower and raise the mast without any support line by walking along the cockpit seats and manhandling it up or down, but I ain't as young as I used to be, (who is?) and I'd like a simple scheme that moves the weight from me to a supporting line that I can control easily without using a gin pole. What I found today is that my 3:1 tackle handles the easy part when the mast is say above 45 degrees, but not the hard part, when it's being lowered into (or lifted out of) the crutch, when I'm in the most danger of dropping it.
Rick M17 #633 Lynne L
On Saturday, May 24, 2014, Wilson Frye <fryewe@me.com> wrote:
I’m not young…nor very big…nor very strong…but I lower my M17 mast by routing the main halyard through my jib downhaul block at the stem and back to the cockpit and take a light strain on it while “checking it” and using my arms to bring the mast down onto my shoulder while I stand in the companionway…then I bend my knees with the mast on my shoulder to lower it into a “goalpost" crutch installed in the gudgeons. To raise it I reverse this procedure except instead of checking the halyard I take a moderate strain on it until the mast is on the step.
To prepare for lowering I re-route the main halyard and cam-cleat it off with a moderate strain while dis-connecting the forestay at the turnbuckle and slacking upper shroud turnbuckles 8 turns. Then I position my self and remove it from the cam cleat as I begin lowering.
After raising the mast and cam-cleating off the main halyard I connect the forestay turnbuckle and tighten the upper shrouds.
On May 24, 2014, at 7:50 PM, Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com<javascript:;>> wrote:
That makes sense, Gary. I took the mast down today using the mainsheet as a 3:1 tackle attached between the jib halyard and the front trailer cradle, and led back to the starboard jib sheet winch. It worked fine until the mast was below around 50-60 degrees, when the support line began to approach being in line with the mast, and couldn't take the full weight any more. I enlisted help for that last phase since I couldn't control the mainsheet and guide the mast into the aft cradle at the same time. Maybe more practice will help. I'll try using the forestay when I raise it again.
Thanks,
Rick M17 #633 Lynne L
On Saturday, May 24, 2014, GARY M HYDE <gmhyde1@mac.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
Attachment to forestay with furler: I raise the mast by attaching the block and tackle to the forestay to keep the furler from flopping around during raising and lowering the mast. That also helps lift the weight of the furler. GARY ~~~~_/) ~~~~ Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
On May 21, 2014, at 6:40 PM, Mitch Carnes <mitch_carnes@sbcglobal.net<javascript:;> <javascript:;>> wrote:
Mboaters; I too use a 4-1 mounted from trailer forward crutch to jib halyard. I also use the sheet winch, bu tdo not crank, just pull and secure. I have found I must de-tension my side stays to get past the "hump" of my mast as the aft bottom curve is not ground down quite enough. A side note: I also fabricated a 1x 10 inch poplar board that sits between companionway threshhold and the aft vee berth bulkhead. That way I can walk the mast down by backing down this plank and onto the cockpit seats. (They are nearly the same height), then step onto the cockpit floor. It also doubles as a table at the dock and can be slid port or starboard as needed. Fair winds. Mitch M-17 656
________________________________ From: Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com <javascript:;> <javascript:;>> To: M BoatsForum <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com <javascript:;><javascript:;>> Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 4:50 PM Subject: M_Boats: Mast lowering
Gary H, Gary O, Howard and Bill,
Thanks to you all for your quick and thoughtful responses. I sure love this forum. All the best minds in the M-boat community ready and willing to help. I feel much better about attacking the problem.
Gary H, what is the significance of the furler for attaching the tackle to the forestay rather than the jib halyard? I have a CDI furler, but thought it would be easier to take the strain on the jib halyard to ease unpinning the forestay.
Bill and Howard, do you think the 4:1 is overkill? It seemed to me that there's a lot of tension as the mast comes down. Is the 1:1 attached at the stemhead really easy to handle? Without the added height of attaching to the trailer support?
Gary O, I used to drop the mast manually, but stood on the cockpit seats, moving aft as the mast came down. I somehow can't picture lowering it from the cabin top. Do you stand in front of the mast?
Thanks again, guys,
Rick M17 # 633 Lynne L
On Wednesday, May 21, 2014, Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com <javascript:;><javascript:;><javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml',' jdavies104@gmail.com <javascript:;> <javascript:;>');>> wrote:
Hi all,
I'm trying to figure out a simple (meaning without a gin pole) way to lower the mast on my M17 single-handed without having to walk it down the hard way in the cockpit. I thought of attaching one end of the main sheet to the front mast support on the trailer and the other end to the jib halyard. I think someone on the forum described something like this quite a while ago, but I can't find it. I plan on using a line tied around the mast as high as I can reach and secured to the chainplates on each side for lateral support. I'd plan to lower the mast until I can reach it easily from the cockpit, then lower it the rest of the way by hand, so the tension in the support line doesn't get too big as the mast approaches horizontal. Has anyone tried anything like this? Hate it find out it doesn't work the hard way.
Thanks,
Rick M17 #633 Lynne L