Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
I have a Hood furler that uses the forestay as it’s central axis and it starts down at the lower turnbuckle and extends up almost to the mast head forestay tang. The aluminum roller reaches up almost to the top of the forestay by the mast head, so there’s no wiggle room on top to allow me to check the turnbuckle down on the bottom.
Also on that lower turnbuckle there are two cotter pins holding the bolts in place. I can reach the bottom most pin and bolt, however, I don’t know how I would reach up inside to remove the pin and adjust the upper bolt in the turnbuckle. Maybe I can find a super long longnose pliers to mangle the cotter pin.
My backstay turnbuckle is threaded almost all the way down, so it’s got me wondering whether the forestay could be tightened a wee bit more so I can back off on the backstay. Not sure whether the forestay top turnbuckle bolt is nearing the hairy edge, not being able to see up in there. I really hope not.
What I plan to try is to loosen the backstay most of the way, then use my halyard to secure the mast forward and release the cotter pin from the forestay chainplate. My boat is in the slip so perhaps I can get up underneath by pointing my bow in and standing on the dock.
Maybe I can get five or six turns of the forestay turnbuckle, then snake a cotter pin up inside to secure the forestay. I’ll reattach the forestay to the chainplate, then tighten the backstay. Hopefully this plan will do the trick.
Sounds like a plan... You might also want to ease the aft lower shrouds a little. How many inches of rake do you have (main halyard hanging from the mast at boom level)?
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
Dave, Thanks for the suggestion on the lower shrouds. It appears between 2-3” so not a lot. I used that halyard approach to make sure the mast was perpendicular port to starboard. Now all we need is some warm May weather!
I just purchased a new backstay and it’s turned all the way down, so I’m looking at the same technique possibly. Fortunately my mast hasn’t been stepped yet so I have to learn how to dismantle my furler to get to the turnbuckle.
It depends on the brand make and model of the furler. The Hood furler has long cylindrical or rod-like sections that are made in two halves that are riveted together around the forestay cable, so when you drill out the rivets, they become two half-cylinders that fall away from the forestay cable. At the ends, there are split couplers that connect each rod to the next rod in line. So for me to slide up the furler past the turnbuckle, I’d have to remove the top most section from the assembly. If my mast were down that’s how I’d do it. But since my mast is upright, I might be able to reach up inside with a pair of skinny pliers or a screwdriver. Hopefully I can tweak it to get the right rake and balance.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.