Raiseing and lowering Mast with Roller Furler

[Divecoz]

OK I looked at a house price is right everything we want s there EXCEPT
To get to good sailing water I would have to lower my mast every trip . I would like to have a roller furler . Now I may not have to lower it "quite " all the way down. What do you guys think?
1.Pass on the house.
2.Pass on the roller furler.
3.Go for it its do-able and not that bad once you've done it with some regularity.
4. Spend the extra $100K and buy the very same house farther from the big water, but on a sail boat canal.

[richandlori]

Heck, no...buy the house, get the roller furler and just partially lower the mast as you motor out. It's really not that big of a headache and the roller furler is just worth having on a Mac without a doubt. Santa Cruz harbor in Northern California has 1/2 the harbor behind a bridge that requires people to set up their rigs to lower/raise every time they head out for a daysail and they do it on rigs not designed or intended to be lowered all the time.

Regards

Rich
S/V THIRD DAY

[Moe]

My perspective is why keep a boat in the water, and deal with the work that entails, when you also have the biggest job of trailersailing? IMO, that's a powerboater's house.

[richandlori]

Moe does have a good point....keping a boat in the water does lead to more cost and wear/tear on the boat...that's for sure.

[Divecoz]

By all means its more of a power boaters house. Add $100K and another 1 hr to the water for a sail boat canal.
I want to sail more often than I would if I have to trailer it every time In use it. I am looking for wet and dry slips as well . Few and Far between BTW. I even though about leaving the mast raiser winch on most the time and sailing as the M does quite well with just the main. . .
The house has a dock and a 10,000# lift as well so it wont have to sit in the water.
I keep the boat in the water on lake Michigan now and use it every weekend . Its a long drive but an easy one.
Its a tough call. Most of us dream of walking out the back door past the pool hitting the button (in this case ) to drop the boat in the water and go sailing in a huge harbor or the Gulf of Mexico. Adding the $100K isn't the end of the cost as you owe property taxes on an additional $100K every year till you move or . . die.
Well I was just wondering if others had run into this dilemma as well.
Maybe I'll just keep looking. . . . .
Being winter in Chicago and tomorrow's high is to be 14 degrees . . . .might have something to do with compromises.

[bastonjock]

right now dive,its minus 7 here in jolly old England,im having to melt the ice off of customers cars before i can work on them,

press the button and head south

[pokerrick1]

Minus 7 WHAT?????

Certainly NOT degrees!!!!!

Rick

[bastonjock]

deg celcius,thats about 7 points below freezing,its foggy with it too,visability is down to 50 meters in places

that freezing fog kind of eats into you

[albion]

Bastonjock,if I am right that -7 is centigrade. Which is about 23 fahrenheit.Thats no where near the cold we get around the Great Lakes. 14f is about -11c and that is the high in Chicago.

[Québec 1]

It's -27 with the windchill tonight here in frozenville Canada . It sucks... I wannna be in the Bahamas

[eric3a]

..

[Gazmn]

Man Dive,

I wish I had that as a dilemma
Live in paradise or live further down -- in paradise

If the mast raising system is as easy as is claimed - that you can use it while motoring to get to the otherside - where the good sailing is...

Is there a gooseneck swivel that would allow you to keep you boom on

If the above answers are yes, why not pi$$ off the powerboaters and show them what powersailing is!

Oh, and save a hundred grand

[Shane]

Bastonjock,if I am right that -7 is centigrade. Which is about 23 fahrenheit.Thats no where near the cold we get around the Great Lakes. 14f is about -11c and that is the high in Chicago.

Over here (Greater Vancouver area), we joke about the balmy weather, but go 40 miles upstream along the Fraser River and things change pretty quickly.....

http://www.madmariner.com/voyages/cruis ... _022108_YC


Regards,
Shane

[c130king]

Dive,

Just in case you have never done it...

I have an '05 and I lower my mast all the way with boom still connected, main furled and covered, all lines in place. Just rotate the mast as it comes down so that the boom lays over to one side or the other. I always rotate mine so that boom lays on port side.

I have even unstepped the mast with boom on...slid the whole shebang forward as far as possible (limited by length of some of my lines...about 4 feet)...strapped that bad boy down...and trailered it that way. Took it from Tampa to Jacksonville that way. Of course the mast sticks out about 5 feet or so further aft than normal.

Do it all the time for short distances. But for longer distances now I do it the book way.

But for getting under the bridge you can lower the mast without removing the boom.

My apologies if this is old news.

Good luck.

Jim

[Divecoz]

Thank You Gentlemen one and all . Though it seem's we have a few fore and some against passing under the bridge, several or at least a couple have stated that it is possible to lower and raise the mast, boom and even a furler all in one piece on the M
The Wife and I are still talking about what we should do. Having watched our home on Cozumel go thru 3 hurricanes and numerous bad storms the wife has a few concerns.. . . . . Home's on Coz are built beter to resist the effects of Hurricanes and seldom suffer damage. Not the case in the USA. Our Wood Truss roofs covered with plywood and then shingle and even tiled or metal covering are not very storm resistant. Its a tough call.
WE are finding more and more sailboat property we can afford the more and the longer we look.