Replacing standing rigging

[San Juan Sailor]

I'm going to be replacing all the standing rigging on my Mariner 32 soon. I'm sure it's the original rigging on the 37 year old boat and needs to be replaced. I'm going to do the work myself and am wondering if anyone has gone through this and has any tips or opinions on the process. I'd be very interested if anyone had a good (inexpensive) source for 316 stainless wire, turnbuckles, Norseman and Sta Lok fittings etc. I have read Brian Toss's Rigger's Apprentice and Nigel Calder's Cruising Handbook, both great resources.
Dan

[imagine2frolic]

Is the mast stepped on the keel? If so you can remove the rigging with mast in place. You can do a few at a time, or all at once.

Mine was stepped on the keel. I had it pulled, so I could rewire the mast for lights. I marked, and took all rigging to an independent, and had him copy everything. In 2000 it cost me $600.00 in the S.F. Bay Area to have this done on a 30ft. Columbia

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Dan,
I have a few newer pieces of rigging from the mizzen for your (Mariner 32). I don't have it all but can find some from the mainmast in my neighbors yard if he wants to sell it.
First, it would be great to know the lengths of wire from eye to eye that you need. Then I can let you know what I have or can get.
JohnL

[BluesTraveler]

There is a good printout of all of the rigging sizes, connections and such on:

Mariner Yachts - Home of the Mariner Owners Association

[Squeaks]

"In 2000 it cost me $600.00 in the S.F. Bay Area to have this done on a 30ft. Columbia".
Imagine: I'm wonderering who did it here, I'm due too.
thanks,
John

[San Juan Sailor]

Skiprjohn,
Thanks for the offer but I think I'd sleep better at night knowing that everything was new.
I see you have a Cascade. I did some work on a boat at the Cascade yard in Portland years ago. They build a stout boat. Did you see that a Cascade 36 was the overall winner of the 2008 Pacific Cup?
Dan

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Dan,
I can understand your rigging concerns. I didn't see the results of the Pacific Cup. That really is interesting. I'll see if I can find a blow by blow.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[imagine2frolic]

Squeaks,

Richard from one of the harbors in Richmond. I believe he is the harbormaster. Hope my failed memory can be of help.

[Maddog]

I did the same thing on a 32' boat. I removed a few shouds at a time and used my halyards for extra support. All I did was take them to an industrial rigger, (One that provides rigging for cranes and industrial purposes, not just marine) and said, "Make me one of each of these out of 316. 3 days later they were complete with all fittings. 50% of the price of having a Marine rigger make them up for me. I did mine in sets, first top shrouds, then mid, then lower. I then did the stays one by one. They all came out to about $150 each, including all the fittings and turnbuckles.

It is not a hard job to do. I bought a Loos tension (guide measuring machine gauge) and tuned it myself. Seems to have worked just fine. The only concern was overcoming my irrational fear of being hoisted to the top of the mast.

[imagine2frolic]

You can always go with norseman, or sta-loks, and do everything yourself. It will cost a bit more, but I like these fittings better than swages. You can actually inspect them.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Dan,
There is a marine supply place in Seattle called Fisheries Supply Inc. at 800-426-6930 and I'd call them first to see if they have rigging. Their prices for nearly everything is pretty good.
Then I'd call a rigger at the Wooden Boat School in Port Townsend to see where they get their rigging. Since you are in an area where lots of boat work is done then you may not want to do mail order but if you do then Sailing Services, Inc. at 800-458-1074 might be a good bet.
Good luck.
JohnL

[johnar]

Hello,

I have been getting prices to replace my standing rigging for a 33' Morgan and I plan to use Norseman. The best price i have found on everything is from defender but they are east coast. For me the cost will be around $2,500.00. It is a good thing this is something you only have to do every 10 years are so.

Best of luck,

John

[curlew32]

Hi,

I replaced all of my rigging last winter on an Oday 32 sloop. I ordered from riggingonly.com. They had better prices than defender on norseman fittings. I ordered swaged upper terminals and put norseman fittings on the lowers myself. It worked out quite well, and wasn't terrribly expensive. fast service too.

Hope that helps.

[Amgine]

Port Townsend is also home to Brion Toss, and his shop is there. He offers winter classes on various things from surveying to tuning your rig to splicing wire rope. Go see what's offered this year. I remember there being a rigger in Friday Harbor a couple years ago. Over in Victoria there's a commercial boat rigger as well as a liveaboard couple doing rigging - the commercial shop does work-boat rigging for fishermen mostly, and it might not be pretty but it'll be cheap.

The problem with riggers and good yard help in the PNW is they all seem to be cruisers working on a boat/cruising kitty and end up sailing away... <grin> Just like we want to do!

[Efraim]

Originally Posted by Maddog

... All I did was take them to an industrial rigger, (One that provides rigging for cranes and industrial purposes, not just marine) and said, "Make me one of each of these out of 316. 3 days later they were complete with all fittings. 50% of the price of having a Marine rigger make them up for me...

I'll second the recommendation for industrial riggers. Much much cheaper, A1 quality and many are ISO certified, so when it comes time for insurance you have another piece of paper to wave around.
If you really want to save big bucks, have them fit industrial sockets, instead of norseman or sta-lock stuff, and once again you can walk away with all the certificates you need for insurance purposes.