cal 20 Mast raising system (Chris C)

This system is used on most of our trailer sailors up north by the group of sailors I used to hang around with. It requires the following components: 1. A mast raising rig that is attached to the pintalls of your boat. 2. A gin pole that has a Y bracket at one end and a triple or double pulley at the other end. 3. Some line with appropriate end fittings to match your boat. 4. A simple double or triple pulley to match the one on the gin pole. Part A: Building the parts The mast rig: Basically square aluminum or steel stock that is build to be attached to the pintals of your boat. A 6ft length seems to be the norm. The top end has a Y fitting on it that holds a typical bow roller made of plastic. Some people get fancy and build this unit so its adjustable, basically two tubes inside each other with a series of predrilled holes so you can raise the lowered mast to what ever elevation is needed and then held in place with a simple pin. The gin pole: The gin pole is nothing more then a solid piece of 2x4 with an end fitting on in it in the shape of a Y that takes a pin though it that would fit into the pin opening of the standard CAL base plate; http://www.sealsspars.com/c20_catalog/c20_maststep.html Now the Y fitting needs to be strong but not too tuff otherwise you cannot bend it into shape and is bolted through on the 2x4 in two locations. We use discarded bed frames to make up these components as they are readily available and are of the right strength and malleable enough to be shaped as needed with a simple hammer. The next part of the gin pole is a securely fixed double or triple pulley. Does not need to be expensive or complex, just strong enough to take the tension of the mast. The third component of the gin pole are guide lines that are affixed to the boat to create a triangle to prevent lateral movement. Reasonable quality line. Nothing fancy as you only use this device twice a year. A bolts and nut of the same specs as in the base mount fitting except a bit longer. Typically 1/2 longer does it to fit through the Y of the gin pole with minimal slop. Part B: Initial Setup With the mast in place upright in its normal position and rigging attached, lay the gin pole down on the deck and measure the alingment needed for the Y fitting to fit onto the pins of the deck mount base. The drill accordingly and attach. With the gin pole lying on the deck, find two anchor points parallel to the mast base or as close as possible and run lines, one on each side from the top of the pole to the deck fittings. With the gin pole on deck feed a line from as high as you can get on the mast, through the triple pulley on the gin pole and then to the triple pulley attached to bow or trailer....and then back to a winch. Now you have the base setup and max length of lines you need. Part C: Lowering the mast. Remove the rudder and install the mast rig onto the pintals. Loosen all the rigging except the back stay as it will stay in place, but the fore stay will be disconnected eventually. Place the gin pole on deck and attach to the base fitting of the mast. In most cases you will need a bolt that is of the same dia but 1/2" to 1" longer pending on how thick you Y fitting on the gin pole is. the mast is now free of its pin but held in place by the rigging and the clamp build in. Take your main working line and attach it to the mast as high as you can get it. Some folks use a compression strap and attach the line to it so it does not slip up or down the mast. Use judgement here so it wont slip Some people do these steps in reverse order. Play around with it till you get comfortable with whatever works for you. Then run the line through the pulleys attached on the gin pole and the bow of the boat or tailor, this part you can prepare in advance so its a simple hook up. Finally run the line back to a winch on the boat or tie it off at the front of the boat for manually lowering the mast without using the Fix the side stabilizer lines so they are tight. Raise the gin pole and tighten all lines so the gin pole is at a 45 degree angle to deck. This is your start position. Release the fore stay Slowly start releasing the main working line thereby lowering the mast. If you are doing this manually then make sure you have a place where you can tie off this line in case you get tired or you run into problems. Lower the mast until it rests on the bow roller at the back of the boat. Some people add an extended Y with the roller at the base to catch the mast. Once the mast is down resting on the bow roller on the mast rig, pick up the base of the mast and move it forward to the bow pullpet if available or rest it on some carpet on the bow. Secure it temp. Now proceed to disconnect the remaining rigging. Your mast is now down and ready to be prepared for shipment or storage. Part D: Raising the mast. Reverse the process. Hope that helps. It can be done alone but its nice to have company. -- /ch

chris123 wrote: > > > This system is used on most of our trailer sailors up north by the > group of sailors I used to hang around with. It requires the following > components: > > 1. A mast raising rig that is attached to the pintalls of your boat. > > 2. A gin pole that has a Y bracket at one end and a triple or double > pulley at the other end. > > 3. Some line with appropriate end fittings to match your boat. > > 4. A simple double or triple pulley to match the one on the gin pole. > I've been using a simpler system to step the mast that requires two people. 1. With mast horizontal on deck, attach aft lower shrouds to "chainplates" (deck fittings). 2. Attach backstay 3. One person carries mast aft while the other person inserts the hinge bolt in the deck mast step base. 4. The carrier person pushes the mast upward. The other person can help or take over the lifting when the other person reaches the forward end of the cockpit seats. 5. When the mast is all the way up, attach the forestay. With the forestay secured, the lower shrouds & backstay hold the mast while you secure the rest of the rigging. This works better than you would expect and requires no special equipment. To unstep the mast, reverse the process. The only problem we've ever had was once when the person who was attaching the forestay (me) had a problem getting the pin out. The guy who was pushing the mast forward (holding it against the backstay) got curious and wandered forward to have a look. Unfortunately, this left the mast unsupported, and it fell back onto the bow pulpit of the boat behind us. Fortunately, it was my buddy's boat and not mine, and equally fortunately, neither his mast nor the bow pulpit behind us was damaged. It did make a big noise, though. Chris Campbell > >

Sound simple enough. glad it works for you. I'm going to build this rig eventually as I go to many places where folks are not available to lend a hand. Then again, some strangers you dont want near your boat lending a hand...:) Best regards /ch

WTF , Step one , have a guy hold the mast , step two , undo the for stay Lower the mast,,, to put it up , reverse order ! damb , some people make things too hard.... Dry sailing a Cal20 4 years.... -Paul

And what do you do if you have a Bayfield 25 and need to raise the stick? I like having stuff on hand that makes life simple, when there is no "buddy" around. At 600 bucks to lower the stick in Rock Hall on the 29, practicing on smaller boats, allows me to work out the system for the 29. To take the boat home up the Hudson Hop-a-Nose Marina charges 150 to take it down and build cribs to your specs now thats normal. At the other end, Oswego wants 400 now just to raise the mast. You think Im gonna pay that kind of money for what we do for free at home. Just cause Im a foreigner in your country does not mean Im open to be raped and pillaged. Have a good one. /ch

Chris, I hear Fair Haven is a little more reasonable. Little Sodus Bay, I think about 10 miles west of Oswego. I'm not sure who in Fair Haven. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: chris123 To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:19 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] cal 20 Mast raising system (Chris C) And what do you do if you have a Bayfield 25 and need to raise the stick? I like having stuff on hand that makes life simple, when there is no "buddy" around. At 600 bucks to lower the stick in Rock Hall on the 29, practicing on smaller boats, allows me to work out the system for the 29. To take the boat home up the Hudson Hop-a-Nose Marina charges 150 to take it down and build cribs to your specs now thats normal. At the other end, Oswego wants 400 now just to raise the mast. You think Im gonna pay that kind of money for what we do for free at home. Just cause Im a foreigner in your country does not mean Im open to be raped and pillaged. Have a good one. /ch

Chris, You may want to check out the yacht club on Chaumont Bay. There are two of them there. The one you should go to is on the east side the the harbor. It would also be a shorter sail to Picton from there. When I checked his rates for berthing there, his rate where the best in the area, including sacketts Harbor, Henderson Bay, and Cape Vincent. The folks there were friendly and the facilities were pleasant and has deep water there. Hope this helps! Jim Ives Rochester, NY To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: bo… [at] adelphia.net Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:09:38 -0400 Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Mast raising - Oswego Chris, I hear Fair Haven is a little more reasonable. Little Sodus Bay, I think about 10 miles west of Oswego. I'm not sure who in Fair Haven. Bob From: chris123 To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:19 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] cal 20 Mast raising system (Chris C) And what do you do if you have a Bayfield 25 and need to raise the stick? I like having stuff on hand that makes life simple, when there is no "buddy" around. At 600 bucks to lower the stick in Rock Hall on the 29, practicing on smaller boats, allows me to work out the system for the 29. To take the boat home up the Hudson Hop-a-Nose Marina charges 150 to take it down and build cribs to your specs now thats normal. At the other end, Oswego wants 400 now just to raise the mast. You think Im gonna pay that kind of money for what we do for free at home. Just cause Im a foreigner in your country does not mean Im open to be raped and pillaged. Have a good one. /ch