Mast Raising Alterations 26M

[Jimmyt]

As noted above, I needed to take some slack out of my port side raising stay. Went by West Marine and got a smaller shackle which should get me close enough.

Russ, I did wind up using the snap shackles. I’ll know to leave the mast up if it’s blowing over 30.

[Russ]

If you got 'em why not use 'em? Snap shackles that is. I'll be thinking about you next time I raise my mast and it wants to go sideways and know yours is nice and smooth.

When you find a way to strengthen the gin pole bracket post your idea. That thing scares me when it starts to twist.

I went out to check on the boat at lunch time. (storage unit) I envy you southern boaters that have more time to use your boats.

[Jimmyt]

I'll add a dimension to the mod entry in case you decide to fix yours. It'll be a good excuse for you to buy a tig welder.

I'll take another look at the gin pole on my next raise and see if I need to brace it. I think Highlander's approach of adding stays to the gin pole might be part of my solution. It's asking a lot of the deck bracket to absorb the moment imposed by the gin pole while the mast is dancing a jig...

[Jimmyt]

Here is my final location. I would check your alignment - not sure how consistently the factory located all of this stuff.

[Highlander]

Here's my life line pelican hooks if u zoom in u,ll get a better view

[Highlander]

my added gin pole baby braces attached to the top of the gin pole









J

[Jimmyt]

Here's my life line pelican hooks if u zoom in u,ll get a better view

Thanks for the info and pics Highlander! After considerable mulling I committed to adding stays to my gin pole. That way if I slip or trip and grab the gin pole while it's loaded, I won't destroy my rig. Good, simple way to take that hazard out. Thanks for mentioning it!

Still wrestling with the lifeline drop vs unpinning the spreaders issue, but thanks for the pic!

So far, pretty good game! Enjoy!

[Highlander]

Hi Jimmyt ,
These Pelican hooks I got on sale for $10.usa each from Jamestown
https://images.jamestowndistributors.co ... -58422.jpg

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/u ... lican+Hook

1/4" thread you,ll also need the 1/4" threaded toggled jaws for the other end so as u can adjust them I already had some left over in my inventory from another standing rigging mod but they were not long enough so I just added the shackles that the pelican hooks snap onto

J

[Jimmyt]

Thanks for the info on the Pelican hooks!

I wound up copying your idea of gin pole stays. I put my own spin on it, but I'm glad you gave me the idea. I think that may be more important than bracing the bottom bracket when it comes to making the system safer. I'm adding new loops on the stanchions to attach the gin pole stays. They are positioned a little higher than the original loops, and angled slightly forward, aiming at the gin pole pivot (for no particular reason). I raised the attachment loops so my gin pole stays won't foul my mast raising stays. The snap shackles I'm using to attach to the loops are too bulky to fit both sets on the relocated mast stay loops. I got the new gin pole loop on the port stanchion today. Probably won't get the starboard done till Wednesday due to other commitments tomorrow. Doesn't matter, since it's going to rain till Friday morning, so I should have it done by then. Hoping that Friday I can roll her outside and get my gin pole stays made to the correct length (can't stand the gin pole up inside).

Thanks again for all of the great info, ideas, and pics!

[Jimmyt]

Rolled the boat out of the garage, pushed the mast back to the step, hooked up the raising gin pole, then measured my "Highlander stays". Got them good and tight so the gin pole doesn't deflect if you bump it.

Ran into a problem. When I released the tension on the winch line, the gin pole stays are so tight I can't get them off. Have to load the winch line and lean on the gin pole to get one stay off. The other will come off after that. Should be ok, if I can remember the procedure.

[Jimmyt]

Boat outside with raising pole connected, and Highlander stays clamped at the right length.


Since I'm going to be handling the loose ends, I covered the clamps and cut cable ends with riggers tape.

To hold the riggers tape on, I coated it with liquid electrical tape. Haven't used it before, so thought I'd try it.


Final product doesn't look nearly as good as the compression sleeves, but at least it won't cut my hands up while I'm clipping and unclippin the stays.

[Jimmyt]

Added these loops on either side of the gin pole to connect the stays.

[Jimmyt]

Ran a few numbers on the gin pole arrangement. Looks like a compression load of 250-300 lbs when first starting the lift. If you keep the bracket and pole strictly vertical, it will probably be fine. If you side load it, either due to the mast wandering or someone leaning on it while loaded (loaded gin pole, not loaded captain!), then the bracket will likely fail. I would encourage the addition of side stays to this rig as Highlander has done. It makes the system much more stable.

Now that I've taken a hard look at it, it's a wonder we haven't had a lot more incidents of bracket failure resulting in serious damage.

[Tomfoolery]

Mast compression load depends on where you attach to the mast. I did this years ago using a level mast, but of course, it's not level at its lowest position.

[Jimmyt]

Glad you weighed in! I'll have to check my numbers. I have evidently made a math error.

If you're right, and I would bet on you every time, that's even more reason to add stays to the gin pole. And, at 500 + lbs on the brackets, it seems that gussets, or a redesign of the brackets would seem almost essential.

Thanks for posting that. I thought for sure I had seen you post that before, but wasn't sure how to find it.

EDIT: Rookie mistake. Forgot to include the tension in the line from gin pole to bow cleat - only missed by 100% . Really glad you pointed that out. I was going to leave off the mods to the lower bracket. Now, I'm thinking I might add some gussets to the bracket upper bend.