[Rhodes22-list]Mast Lowering Safety

[Bill Effros]

We should talk about this for a while.  There are 2 different sets of directions floating around.  One for raising the mast from the stern, the other for raising from the bow.  In at least one of the sets, Stan's instructions say something to the effect of "to lower the mast, just reverse the steps."

However if you grab the wrong set of instructions to reverse, you can drop the mast.  I speak from personal experience.

The number one rule for lowering the mast, and almost everything else is: "Don't work tired."  This is more likely to happen at the end of the day; it is more likely to happen when you are lowering the mast.  

I did not follow this rule the first time I lowered the mast.  At that point I had raised the mast 3 times, but had never lowered it.  I started following the instructions backwards without realizing that while I wanted to lower the mast to the stern, I was following the instructions for lowering the mast to the bow.  I was on the wrong side of the mast when it started to come at me and I had to make the decision of whether to try to catch it or get out of the way.

I decided to get out of the way, a decision I have never regretted.  I put a ding in the front of the mast where it hit the bow pulpit.  I found a big guy to help me put the mast up again, and then I lowered it properly to the stern.  I have never made that mistake again, although I still don't have as good a set of instructions for lowering the mast as I have for raising the mast.

Let me mention parenthetically that raising an IMF mast by hand is less difficult than you may have been led to believe.  The trick is to do the job with a tall partner who can get just slightly more leverage when the mast is almost vertical than the average size person.  The mast is manageable by 2 from the bow where you have a high place to stand when moving it from horizontal to vertical.  You can't "throw" this mast the last couple of degrees up to vertical, you need someone over 6 feet tall at the end when no matter how strong you are, you are pushing in the wrong place if you can't reach to a certain height.

At least that was my experience in an emergency.  It is not something I would recommend.  I am a strong advocate of Stan's mast raising gear which I can operate single handed and safely under any conditions other than following the wrong set of instructions.

Bill Effros


----- Original Message ----- 
From: P&M Beals 
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org 
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2004 6:44 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] help needed with raising the mast and connectinggenoa


Ok hold the politics and lend us a hand.
going through a dry run, good thing, raising the mast and stays in our back
yard...using the  GB mast hoist raising system.  got the mast up safely,
good....now 2 different sets of directions come into play....

1.  we connected first the lower forward shrouds....an old version direction
said this makes mast secure etc....but should we  have connected genoa jib
stay first because now we can' t get the genoa jib stay to reach....Joe
Ware's personal version directions listed genoa first then shrouds etc.

what is the preferred order for connecting the stays?

the sooner the better we want to finish up before dark....forget taking it
down tonight.

Thanks Phyllis in NJ 
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