Stephen Yoder wrote:

Eric Olander wrote: My W28 is on the hard with the mast and rigging resting on saw horses next to her. I'm pretty sure that I read something, somewhere about it being possible to raise the mast with just a couple guys and some creative engineering but I can't find it now. Am I mistaken?

I really don't want the expense of renting a crane for a couple hundred dollars. 

Eric

Eric, You might have been reading about raising and lowering the mast while it was still on the boat in the tabernacle.  If you and some help can get the mast on board horizontally and then get the base back in the tabernacle and pinned, you can indeed raise it w/o a crane from that position.  And it doesn't even take a couple of guys, just  bunch of line, a few blocks, and, the first time, nerves of steel.  I've lowered and raised mine once using Bud's DVD demonstration.  Contact Bud to get a copy unless Jay has put it on the new website somewhere.

-Steve

Eric:  I see where you also have a twist in the mast -- I'd wait for Bud to reply and see what a good fix would be b4 raising it - in case it can be fixed on the ground.

Steve: great idea - but I don't think it's posted - so will need a copy.

-jay

Eric Olander wrote: Thanks. Hopefully Bud will chime in. 

I hope all is well on Siempre Sabado in mexico :-)

Jay, I read an old post of yours that said you had a two year old Lafiell mast. How much did that cost?
 

 I can lift one end of the mast but with the back troubles I've had I hesitate attempting

to walk or maneuver while carrying it so I guess crane it is.

When in the boatyard in Fl, Aaron (what a great guy) came out to look at the boat and installed

my sails. He found that the mainsail didn't even fit the boat, leaving me only the original, unservicable

one. That, coupled with the frozen winches and bent mast leads me to believe that the previous owners never sailed her but only motored. 

I'm real concerned that if this mast is toast, my cruising days will be over before they've even begun.

The mast was freshly painted before I bought her and I wonder if the paint is hiding some dent or

crimp. Oh well, even worse case, I guess I could always motor for a few years until I have saved enough for 

new sails, mast and rigging. LOL 

I just had no idea when I bought this boat that it was going to cost so much. when the surveyor said 

"servicable" I took that to mean "ready to go to the Bahamas!" Live and learn. My apologies for whining.

I've misjudged my willingness to drive three hours to work on the boat (done it once in almost two months)

so am moving the boat up the Potomac river, anchoring just south of Belle Haven Marina and Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I'll live and work on her in the water until and if I can get into a particular marina close to our condo.

Eric - Yes boats make a dent in the budget/cash.... about 2005 a new mast and boom was put on Pygmalion as the existing mast and main boom needed a lot of work.  By the time the rebuild calculations were done that it was about 1/2 the cost of the new mast and booms. 

My old mast just needs to be rebuilt as it's now the property of Svendsens' Boat works in Alameda CA.  Shipping will be the issue.  This mast will still need to be stripped and repainted, rewired as the wires are old - the spreaders should be OK if they are still available.  The tabernacle pin is frozen into the base hinge.

The replacement mast, main boom and staysail boom with rewiring and spreaders was ~ $5700 in 2005. Plus shipping from Southern CA, plus new instruments on the mast head, and another $750 for the yard to move the boat to the mast dock, install the mast (the ding the deck paint was free) and return the boat to it's slip.  It  was about a $10,000 job and I and a friend did all the hardware installation onto the new mast and booms including line clutches instead of cleats for the halyards. 

What I would do different is to NOT install the staysail wench pad on the mast - gets in the way of a spinnaker track.  I also don't like the staysail boom -- as it's always in the way.  I think the best bet is a furler for the staysail w/o a boom.

Maybe there is a boat yard with masts that would work. 

Hope this helps.  Jay

Aaron Norlund wrote: Eric,

I'm curious about this bend in your mast; do you have any photos? I didn't see anything like it when I saw the boat.

You have a tabernacle, so you can raise your on mast if it's in the water. You'll just have to get some help; we did it with three people. If you're back is busted, figure four, and you can run the winches. Bud's description in his manual is quite good and worked well for us.

Photos of our hoisting the mast.

~Aaron

Aaron Norlund wrote:

when I backed up 50 feet or so I could see where the mast is cocked almost ten degrees to port.

Eric,

So this is while looking at the mast with it ON the boat, rigged, right? If so, that curve was surely caused by the rig being untuned - it's very easy to induce bends in a spar - fore and aft, and athwartships. For instance, the lower starboard shrouds may have been quite tight, while the starboard upper was loose, and port upper tight, thus making it look as if the mast was "bent".

Is the mast obviously "bent" while laying on sawhorses? That also isn't too uncommon, especially if it was rigged in a "bent" form for a long period. I've seen a handful of long spars sitting off boats with slight curves. Unless there is an impact bend, or some sort of very obvious point of suffrage, it's probably OK to rig the mast, using the standing rigging to bring the mast into the column (make it straight).

That said, use your hands to "feel up" the mast, especially where you think it's bent. Aluminum masts that are really bent sometimes have a ripply, textured feel in the area of the bend.

I strongly suggest reading a book on rigging so that you know how to setup and tension your rig appropriately. Brion Toss's The Rigger's Apprentice is pretty thorough, entertaining, and useful. Also, having someone who knows what they're doing is preeetty helpful, especially the first time.

Good luck -
Aaron