I found that by adding about 8 inches, in my case, to the height of the mast crutch, I avoided that "dead" zone when the line is essentially pulling straight back down the mast. That added height also prevented the mast from crunching my main hatch since by raising the mast from the top with its cables there is a LOT of downward pressure on the mast. That downward pressure prevents the mast with its thru bolt from sliding up the slot where the thru bolt attaches the mast to the tabernacle so all the weight of the mast levers down onto the main hatch and bends it downward. Not good. So with the added crutch height the weight of the mast never comes into contact with any part of the main hatch. This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email> <#DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Sun, Feb 14, 2016 at 3:06 PM, John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> wrote:
Only raised and lowered once so far since I got Pajarita. It came with the mast oriented to raise from bow, not stern, so I went with that, and like it actually. I just need to get something on the bow pulpit to keep mast from slipping sideways when sliding it fore and aft.
I had a friend to help me both up and down, so basically we just put a line on the backstay, he was at the stern raising (or lowering) on that, I was at the bow lifting (or lowering) and steadying. Once up, he held snug while I secured backstay to ring connecting split backstay pieces.
Will be testing out solo options in a month or two. Plan A is similar but the line from backstay will run through a block at the stern and back up to me at the bow. There's just the small critical piece at the very start of raising or end of lowering where the angle of the line is too flat to be of much use and it needs to be manually lifted or lowered. I find the M17 mast light enough for me to handle that way.
That critical bit for solo raise/lower can be avoided with a gin pole or an A-frame, I've done that on other boats. All the setup and takedown of that, for both raising and lowering, ugh - if I can avoid all that hassle and extra gear and time I gladly will. And, it's gotta feel safe! I'll deal with the hassle of more rigging if it's a matter of safety. For the M17 mast I found it felt safe to lift & lower that first/last bit myself - YMMV!
cheers, John S.
On 02/14/2016 11:52 AM, Jazzy wrote:
Hello all,, It's been too quiet. So I thought I'd stir the pot. Let's hear how you raise your mast. Currently I have a single block I attach to the bow, I run a line from furler through the block then back to me via the winch. I heave ho, and take up the slack and cleat it off while I attach the furler. A bit precarious, but works ok. I'm considering a double block for some purchase.
Jazz
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com