On Mar 29, 2016, at 10:10 AM, Thomas Buzzi <thomaspbuzzi@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi David, Yes, there is a scramble area getting up over the cabin while supporting the mast. I copied someone else's idea about a gin pole and side guy wires to use the trailer winch to raise and lower the mast. MUCH easier and you can always lock the trailer winch in mid hoist to adjust the mast and rigging. I used to do what you are doing and never had a problem as long as I kept some forward pressure against the mast.
I just found what I think is a simpler solution to this problem (the shroud problem, not the mast raising one) that I’ll tell you about as soon as I stop bouncing around and saying, “I am a CHENIUS!” But I was so excited about it that I had to go out and try raising and lowering the mast, even though the wind is whistling straight in from the west, and my boat is parked pointing west. And just as I was edging up onto the cabin top, with one hand on the mast and one on the handrail, I felt the wind gust and the mast start to topple. Holy Cow. Well, it didn’t go down, but I just had to stand there for a while with my arms wrapped around it, looking like a dazed koala, waiting for the wind to die down before I had the nerve to go for the forestay. Have you ever seen the poster that says, “Maybe the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others”?
The dicey part was when the mast was up, having to hold the forestay with a bare hand while I also had to snap in the shackle or fit a clevis pin.
The very first time I put the mast up, I said to myself at that point, “Man, it would be embarrassing to drop the pin right now”. Then I dropped the pin. (Now the pin is tied to the shackle with a bit of cord.)