Summary
(please click on any of the pictures for a larger one - use the BACK button to come back)
I had a couple of "events" raising the mast, one of which with "round 1" gin pole, that didn't go so well. No damage, but just a bit too hair-raising for me. I can raise the mast without help when there is no furler, sail or shrouds attached, but I don't want to HAVE to take these off each time.
This is the second round of gin pole, using some things that I learned from the first round. Most of the things that were not fun using the first round were the four different bridle lines that had to be lengthened/shortened during the whole process. This is due to the attachment points being at the deck level, and the pivot point of the mast being 3ft above that.
This is the overall pole. It is 5" wide at the base to accomodate "ears" that fit around the width of the tabernacle. This wide base stance allowed me to not have to have a bridle for the gin pole..
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Here is the base up close. I have since changed the pivot "axle" to a hitch pin with an integrated toggle at the end to make it easier.
The brackets are funky-looking because I used whatever was in the garage - mostly trailer parts. |
Here is the top. More levtover brackets and such with some new holes drilled into them.
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And here we are in operation! It worked really well this time.
I mounted a small winch on the top of the bow stop (you'll have to look close), and ran a line over the anchor bow roller. I have a "strop" of line that loops mid-mast over the spreaders and pulls up from there. |
UPDATE!
I got to looking at that last picture above and thought that the angles of the pole looked a bit "extreme". Never mind that the pole was VERY heavy and I couldn't reach the top connection points while standing on the cabintop.
I cut 2ft off the pole which aleviated the reaching the top part, made the pole a bit lighter, and made the line angles look a little better to me.
I also drilled some holes along the way to further lighten the whole rig - gives it that "billet" look!
Lastly, I moved the winch from the trailer bow stop to the base of the gin pole. Now everything can be done right from the base of the mast pivot point.
This in turn allows me to guide the mast side-to-side so that I don't need baby stays to further complicate the setup.
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Here is a close up of the winch mounted to the base of the pole. The line goes up to a block and then terminates at a fixed point at the bow.
I use a large (much longer than the fixed pin) lynch pin with a nice big handle on it to insert all the way through the gin pole. Once the mast is up, that is replaced with the normal pin.
Note that cool billet design! |
Lessons Learned
It's OK, at any point, to be on your fourth "prototype"......
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