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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Stepping Mast

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ruachwrights
Captain

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USA
258 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/09/2011 : 11:21:38

Have decided to put up some of those plastic-anti bird spikes on the spreaders. Also need to somehow fix all lights on mast. I have never stepped the mast before and I do not have the trailer with the mast raising tongue thingy (or a trailer at all). Is it possible for me to step the mast myself, or should plan on getting the yard involved? If I do step the mast how heavy is it, how would I lower or raise it?

Vern Wright

97 Catalina 250 TR/ WK
Hull #301
Attleboro, MA

Edited by - on

bear
Admiral

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USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 05/09/2011 : 11:50:29

Vern, Get the yard involved and make sure your wiring is
good where it enters the mast. Suggestion could
all this wait till the end of the sailing season?
Plenty of help on this forum if you decide to
manhandle the mast. Need 2-3 more bodies for
starters and baby stays to support the mast.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/09/2011 : 11:55:11

There are many posts on this subject. You can start here:

http://catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21203

On page 3 I have some pics of my own gin pole, which I made with an inexpensive 2x4, a winch off my powerboat trailer, an old spare tire bracket, a trailer roller (most costly part of the whole thing) and 4 ratcheted tie-down straps (instead of the costly "baby stays" that Catalina sells). I have some other pics that I took when raising the mast this spring. Until I get time to post them, here are some pics from last fall:

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Edited by - TakeFive on 05/09/2011 11:56:59

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 05/10/2011 : 13:24:54

Rick, that might be the best I've seen yet. I think I'd make a modification though. The forces on the 2x4 are along the side that is weakest. I'd either rotate it 90 degrees and marry another 2x4 to it or use a 4x4.

I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

How do you attach the webbing to the mast? S-hooks at the "Baby stay" connection points? Any concern about crushing the mast when you tighten the u-bolt thingy? I wonder if you could add something soft(maybe a piece of neoprene or somesuch??) between it and the mast since it really only has to be tight enough to keep it from sliding up (or down) the mast during transit.

Now, all you need is an electric windlass in your anchor locker and stepping the mast becomes practically a push button operation.

Edited by - John Russell on 05/10/2011 13:28:26

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/10/2011 : 14:31:28

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by John Russell
 Rick, that might be the best I've seen yet. I think I'd make a modification though. The forces on the 2x4 are along the side that is weakest. I'd either rotate it 90 degrees and marry another 2x4 to it or use a 4x4.

I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

How do you attach the webbing to the mast? S-hooks at the "Baby stay" connection points? Any concern about crushing the mast when you tighten the u-bolt thingy? I wonder if you could add something soft(maybe a piece of neoprene or somesuch??) between it and the mast since it really only has to be tight enough to keep it from sliding up (or down) the mast during transit.

Now, all you need is an electric windlass in your anchor locker and stepping the mast becomes practically a push button operation.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
John,

I'll do some vector calculations to back this up, but in looking at it visually I thought that the forces on the 2x4 were almost purely compressive, and not actually all that great. Think of the winch strap and jib halyard to the masthead (plus a redundant line I ran to below the spreaders) as being a "bow" and the gin pole itself being an "arrow". The angles of the respective vectors are such that the compression on the 2x4 is much less than the tension in the strap and lines. In light of this I don't think that the orientation of the 2x4 really matters all that much. No matter how it's oriented, it's not rigged to resist any torquing motion - just compression. But I'll try to do some calculations to back this up.

As far as using a 4x4, the weight of the pole itself does become safety factor as far as setting it up, especially when the mast is down and the pole has to be vertical. So there may be diminishing returns there.

The mast is protected by a few wraps of duct tape on the tire bracket. I tighten it securely enough to keep it from slipping along the mast, but nowhere near tight enough to deform the mast. However, some rubber-type pad on the end block could help further ensure that the thing does not slip.

The straps are attached by S-hooks to the bails, the mast holes for the baby stays, and the eyebolts on the gin pole. What is not shown in the picture is that I used duct tape across the S-hooks to make sure they do not fall out of the bails or the eyebolts. Also, great care must be taken to make sure the straps do not become too tight when raising the mast. The bails are slightly behind the mast step IIRC, so the straps do become tighter as the mast as raised. The opposite is true as the mast is lowered.

The other thread that I linked has some more details. I'll also try to post some more recent pics from my recent mast raising when I get a chance.

Edited by - TakeFive on 05/10/2011 14:36:14

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/10/2011 : 19:51:14

I can't find the sheet where I did all the tension and compression vector calculations prior to raising my mast (wanted to make sure not to exceed the working load of my halyard, etc.), but I did pull the pics out of the camera and reduced them. My calculations showed that the greatest tension in the lines occurs when the mast is almost horizontal, so starting with the mast slightly raised on the sawhorse (and my wife pushing upward for the first foot or so) greatly reduced the stress on the lines and the winch. With the gin pole it takes a couple hours to set up (including lots of extra time to check and re-check everything), but it does ultimately make it a one-man job. Additional helpers are suggested in case of emergency, though during the actual raising there's not much for them to do besides stay out of the way. I did have my wife walking around the boat (on the ground) to make sure no bending of the turnbuckles or t-bolts.

The pics on the other thread I linked above were from last fall when I dropped the mast. These are from a couple weeks ago when I raised it:

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Edited by - TakeFive on 05/10/2011 19:54:16

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