[Rhodes22-list] Your favorite way of pulling out mast step

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

Well here is how I did it. In the papers I received with my new-old '76 was
the famous engineer's appreciation of the Rhodes 22, which included a
description of how to raise (and lower) the mast from the bow pulpit using
the boom and main tackle cleated off the stern and hauling away. First time
with my daughter standing on the fore deck holding the boom stable at 90
degrees it went up like a charm. Hallelujah. Now I was a master of the
technique.

The second time I made the mistake of letting the bottom end of the roller
furling jib hang off the bow while I hoisted on the mast. My daughter was
again helping me. At the crucial moment, when the mast had reached about 30
degrees and she was stabilizing the boom I asked her to c heck that the base
of roller furled was not scraping on the ground. She let go of the boom to
check. The boom swung out of control and so did the mast which came crashing
down on the deck.

Ouch. Miraculously the mast and boom were not damaged, nor the deck. The
step however had twisted and pulled out the two bolts attaching it to the
deck. After reassuring my now-traumatized daughter that I not she was to
blame, I put the step in a vise and straightened it out. On inspecting the
holes where the bolts had fitted into the hull, I could see this was not the
first time they'd pulled out, which was a minor consolation.
I extracted the two flanged pieces into which the bolts had been fastened,
cleaned the holes, poured in acetone to dry out any water that might have
leaked in, and then re-bedded the flanges in epoxy and let them dry. Then
re-fastened the step with the two bolts.

So far so good. On my next attempt at raising the mast, a friend helped. He
raised the mast to head height standing on the fore deck while I hauled.
Then grabbed the boom to keep it steady. At which point the same damn thing
happened for the same damn reason - I forgot to attach the roller furled to
the mast and raise them both together, instead it was trailing off the bow.
Monumental, sweaty, end-of-day idiocy. Friend is holding the boom stable,
roller furled gets stuck, he goes to unstick, boom wavers uncontrollably,
mast and boom land on deck. 

Fortunately the step itself wasn't bent a second time. But I was now
traumatized. So I drilled through the deck and this time fixed the step in
place with (3 inch?) ss through bolts, washers, and lock nuts.

Lesson learned: the pressure on the step fittings from zero degrees up to 45
degrees with this method is tremendous. Once the mast reaches 45 degrees the
pressure lessens and continues to lessen up to 90 degrees. I saw in the
archives what looks like a brilliant contraption made from a pvc joint cut
in half and then held in place with metal straps to hold the boom rigidly to
the mast at 90 degrees. Has anyone else experience with this device?

Ultimately I want to be able to raise the mast by myself, since I sail
mostly solo.

So there is my first confession. I'd love to read that I'm not alone…


Jefferson
SV Patience
Lake Memphremagog, Quebec






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