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Taking my Catalina 25 out for the season, 1st time

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Jmurfy
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USA
176 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/28/2005 : 19:10:58

I'm taking my first boat out of the water in two weeks and am wondering how difficult it will be to lower the mast. Should I pay the boatyard the 1st time & watch? I'm a do it yourselfer and a not afraid of the challenge. Just dont want to hurt "My Joy".

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 09/28/2005 : 19:23:26

First time, 5 people, second time 3 people, after that two strong people.
First time, you will be surprised by how it wants to go side to side, one on each side one on the bow (with the line) one on the cabin deck at the mast, (he goes to the back of the cockpit at the end) and one at the front of the cock pit to catch the mast from the cabin top guy as the bow guy looses purchase.
They are harder to put up because things catch on the way up and must be cleared.
Remember the forward stays come off and the sides and aft lowers must be loosened.
Have cushions tied to the bow and stern rails to set the mast on.
One of the side guys can take the mast pin out, don't let the mast kick up at that point.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 09/28/2005 : 19:26:30

Do you have a couple able-bodied buddies? IMHO: No worries.

Put one person belaying a line attached to the jib halyard and run through the pulpit... that helps ease it down. Put a couple folks on the deck guiding/catching the mast and you should have no problems at all. It's only about 70 lbs.

Mine regularly gets raised lowered by 2 50-something guys... one with a bad back and one with a bad shoulder! Build an A-Frame or trailer 'tower' and you can easily do it by yourself.

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2005 : 07:28:37

I use an a-frame and have raised and lowered the mast myself. My mast is only a standard rig, which may make a difference. I also try to do the procedure headed into the wind. The wind will push the mast around, especially if you're not heading into the wind.

It's definitely easier to do this when my wife is there, though. she and I have a pretty good game plan when it comes to doing this.

good luck.

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2005 : 13:13:12

The mast on a tall rig boat is considerably heavier than the standard rig mast, and the leverage works against you. Three good men can muscle it up or down, but I prefer four or five (two in the cockpit, two on the cabin top and one keeping tension on a line attached to the jib halyard, which is used as a safety line). IMHO, it's better to have more help than you need than to have just barely enough.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2005 : 08:37:44

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Jmurfy
 ...Should I pay the boatyard the 1st time & watch?...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Watching the yard workers do it may not teach you anything useful. A boatyard will probably use a hoist of some kind, or use a method that you will not be able to duplicate on your own. Your mast raising system need to be fully self-contained, portable, and as simple as possible so that it can be set up easily and quickly. There is one major design factor that needs to be considered first: Will your mast raising system be used with the boat in the water, or on the trailer? If it will be an on-the-trailer system, you will be designing it to use the trailer winch for lifting power. If it's an on-the-water system, you will use one of the the primary winches in the cockpit. I personally prefer the on-the-trailer system, since it's easier and safer to use the trailer winch to do the heavy lifting, but not every Catalina 25 owner has a trailer. The most important part of your system is that it must somehow hold the mast and the ginpole straight in line with the centerline of the boat and not allow any sideways movement. Once the system is under tension and the mast has started down, the shrouds will go slack and the mast WILL try to fall over sideways unless you are supporting it somehow. The easiest way is to simply have several helpers who can control the mast by standing on the cabin top and handle it manually, but you should also try to design a system that can be operated by just one person without help. In the 20 or so mast-raising evolutions I have gone through with my boat, I have had help on only 4 or 5 of them. The "Huntington Rig Conversion" is probably the most popular single-handed mast raising system. There is a good illustration of it in the Tech Tips section of this website, with photos showing it on a Catalina 25 based in Southern California. The primary feature of the Huntington Rig is a modification of the upper shrouds that enables them to stay in tension and support the mast against side sway throughout the range of position from fully down to fully raised.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2005 : 09:20:19

>"The mast on a tall rig boat is considerably heavier than the standard rig mast"

I believe the mast extrusion weighs about 2 lbs per foot... so it [tall rig] should be about 7 lbs heavier... of course the 7lbs will feel like a lot more out on the end of a 34' lever.

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2005 : 11:25:06

I believe the mast extrusion weighs about 2 lbs per foot

I thought I read here somewhere that the tall rig had a heaver extrusion than the standard. Is this true?

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2005 : 11:55:42

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MattL
 I believe the mast extrusion weighs about 2 lbs per foot

I thought I read here somewhere that the tall rig had a heaver extrusion than the standard. Is this true?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yes it is a completely different extrusion and heavier.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2005 : 22:30:07

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MattL
 
I thought I read here somewhere that the tall rig had a heaver extrusion than the standard. Is this true?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If you were to cut a cross-section through a Tall Rig mast and measure it in comparison to the Standard Rig, the TR is about 1/2" wider, 1/2" longer front-to-back, and the metal is about 1/32" heavier wall thickness. When I am moving the mast in it's support crutch roller, to get it into trailering position or raising positions, it feels to me like the end I am holding weighs at least 10 to 15 pounds more than the SR mast I had on #1205.

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Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2005 : 23:20:26

Thanks for responses! I will build an a frame for next season.

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2005 : 23:35:37

I pull out yesterday, a couple of friends helped. I was on the boat and one guy on the bow line another on the stern. They pulled me up the trailer, I have a fin so it was deep. When the bow hit the bow chock I looped my long rope from the rear quarter cleet around the chock post then back to the jib sheet on the opposite side. Cinched her up and one of the guys drove the truck out. I had to disconect the truck and head home for a party we had to go to.
Went back to the boat this morning and took all the paraphanala off; boom, all extra lines and rudder, and stowed them. Disconected the forward schrouds and attached my A - frame. Hooked the jib sheet to the top of the frame and tied another line to the frame and lead it to a block on the bow of the boat and back to a jib wench. Tightened this up to easy the pressure on the fore stay and disconnected it. Standing in the back I released the tension on the line holding the mast up and pulled down on the back stay. The mast came down onto the crutch I had attached after removing the rudder. Slid the mast up to the bow, removed the wind direction thing and tied everything down.
An older gentalman came by to chat about the lake. He was visiting from about 3 hours away, he came by for his 50 year high school reunion. Had a wonderfull time talking with him so now I don't know how long my process took. Including the talk it was about 3 hours. Nice and relaxing morning working by myself and then talking to the older sailor. He had a bunch of intersting tales to tell, I highly recommend an morning or afternoon talking to any old salt you can find.
Boats out of the water, but I'm heading to Monterey next week end.

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IndyJim
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USA
130 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2005 : 23:57:07

Man, this is depressing. All this talk about haul out is a bummer. I guess the season is coming to an end. Soon we'll be shoveling snow and dreaming about the memories of the scorching summer sun. Of course if you're like me, you'll be trying to reduce that long list of boat projects to do over the winter.
When it's frigid outside and my wife can't find me, she finds I've crawled under the bungees and tarp and I'm sitting in the cabin drinking a cup of coffee with the propane stove burning. Then she realizes that I'm going through withdrawl. In her sympathetic demeanor, she gives me some time to drift into my summer transe and just as my eyes glaze over and I'm reminescing about sail trim...she yells get your butt down from the boat and use the snow blower! :)
Summer can't return soon enough for us in the midwest!

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