I have to move the mast again. But now it’s 64ft.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by DougR

The easiest thing is to call a boat transport outfit. They haul oversized loads all the time from FL north to the Carolinas......powerboats and sail boats with long masts. They could pick the mast up at the yard and have it delivered long before you ever make it up there. Piggy back on another load.

If you want to put it on deck, go down to the local Publix store and get yourself a dozen or more 4” diameter swimming pool noodles. Feed 3/8 line thru the noodle and wrap them around the mast, then tie them to the mast. Ready made cushions along the whole length of deck contact....

Any time I have ever been thru a lock I have been tied to the side wall to avoid the turbulence from the incoming water. Feed line out or take line in as the water rises or falls. No out of control boat!

I agree about the boat transporting outfits. Do you know of any? Does anyone know of any? Ones in Florida or North Carolina?

They seem to mostly go by word of mouth in a lot of cases.

You’re not allowed to tie to the lock wall. You have to hold the pre-installed lines that hang down the side of the lock. That’s just how locks work in Florida and the Erie Canal.

You have to follow the rules.

But that would be my first choice to piggyback it onto a shipment up north. Hard to find those boat transport companies.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I agree about the boat transporting outfits. Do you know of any? Does anyone know of any? Ones in Florida or North Carolina?

They seem to mostly go by word of mouth in a lot of cases.

You’re not allowed to tie to the lock wall. You have to hold the pre-installed lines that hang down the side of the lock. That’s just how locks work in Florida and the Erie Canal.

You have to follow the rules.

But that would be my first choice to piggyback it onto a shipment up north. Hard to find those boat transport companies.

If the lock only has drop lines, no pipes, cables, or anything else to loop a line around, it's much easier with 2 people on board (1 forward, 1 aft). A combination of pulling and fending from the ends of the boat will give you more control against twisting.

It also might not hurt to get on land before you lock through and watch some other boats go through. That might give you an idea of where the more and less turbulent spots in the lock are. Depending on where you are relative to the fill valves can determine whether you get pushed against the wall, pushed away from it, or twisted.

[DougR]

Five minutes on the internet and I found Joule Yacht Transport, Clover Transport, and a few others........Having been in the marine business for years and also having shipped my own vessel transcontinental I know that this goes on daily. Drive up and down I-95 and you see them all the time.


Well I have to admit that I am probably not the most experienced lock person on the forum, but I’ve locked thru the Great Bridge Locks on the ICW in Great Bridge Va., Cape Canaveral barge canal locks in Fl, and the Ockachobee Waterway locks near Stuart Fl. In all cases there is something available to secure the vessel to the lock wall with. As rslifkin says, no one goes thru locks without lines secured to something on the shore.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by DougR

Five minutes on the internet and I found Joule Yacht Transport, Clover Transport, and a few others........Having been in the marine business for years and also having shipped my own vessel transcontinental I know that this goes on daily. Drive up and down I-95 and you see them all the time.


Well I have to admit that I am probably not the most experienced lock person on the forum, but I’ve locked thru the Great Bridge Locks on the ICW in Great Bridge Va., Cape Canaveral barge canal locks in Fl, and the Ockachobee Waterway locks near Stuart Fl. In all cases there is something available to secure the vessel to the lock wall with. As rslifkin says, no one goes thru locks without lines secured to something on the shore.

Yeah. I already have word into Joule. That’s where my five minutes on the Internet got me as well.

I was hoping for a bunch of others. So I could find one that’s actually doing a trip up there.

There is not something to secure the vessel to on a wall of the lock. I think you are forgetting or something. There are lines hanging down the side of a lock.

On the Erie canal, the lines are attached. And you can put your own line around them and ride down or up. By slipping your own line over them as you travel up and down. I am very, very experienced with locks. I’m also very very experienced with Spanish but it takes a while to warm up because you only use it once every several years. Same with locks. However I just came through these locks. Six weeks ago.

The one called the Franklin lock and dam is the one that messes my boat up every time.

This one has, nothing to attach your boat to. Because if a lock did have something to attach your boat to it would be get damaged as the water level changed. What happens is they have some lines hanging down from the fence around the lock. These lines are not attached at the bottom like in the Erie canal. You’re supposed to have crew on each end holding the line. But all this stuff is irrelevant.

The problem is when you are moving the boat after the lock is finished. Or at least when it’s almost finished. There’s all kinds of weird currents that spin my boat around in this particular lock. It doesn’t happen on any of the other ones. Just this one. And it happens every time I go through it.

It doesn’t matter what I do with the engines. It doesn’t matter what I do with the boards. It doesn’t matter what I do with the rudders. My boat gets twisted and thrown into the opposite wall every single time and I’ve been through this lock 6 times now.

This will break the mast.

You can’t just sit there doing nothing waiting and waiting because everyone gets impatient. When it’s your turn to go, you are expected to go.

My plan was never to have to use these again.

But unfortunately my Rigger didn’t know how to do the rigging. Or couldn’t pull the project together.

[DougR]

Here’s something to try......you’re located near one of the largest yacht builders in the country, Catalina Yachts in Largo ,FL. They must be shipping yachts all over the country. Call their customer service group and ask them who they use for shipping their yachts north from FL.

[rslifkin]

If the turbulence is from the doors opening, etc. I'd wait for it to disappate. If anyone complains, too bad. The safety of your boat is your responsibility, so as far as I'm concerned nobody can force you to move before it's safe. If you're with other boats, let them in first so you can watch their departure to see what the turbulence is doing.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by DougR

Here’s something to try......you’re located near one of the largest yacht builders in the country, Catalina Yachts in Largo ,FL. They must be shipping yachts all over the country. Call their customer service group and ask them who they use for shipping their yachts north from FL.

Great idea!!!

Thank you. They put out a lot of boats and I’m sure some will be headed north for the spring surge.

[Rumpi]

Chotu, WTF?!!! You have a friggin catamaran, why would you need cradles to transport a mast? Just lash it under the frigging deck and be done with it!

Uber to the hardware store, get some ratchet straps/cordage, a few reusable rubble sacks, two sturdy plastic bags, a roll of ducktape, one or two cans of expanding foam, some heavy duty shrink wrap. Also buy two truck or tractor inner tubes from a tire place.

Go to the yard with your dinghy, tape the plastic bags over the ends of the mast, tape up over any openings and fasteners then shrinkwrap the entire thing. Now take one rubble sack, loosely put it over the end of the mast, tie it down, make a hole and shoot some foam into the sack. Repeat for the other end and if you have spreaders repeat at their ends. Inflate the inner tubes, securely tie them to the mast about 7/8 from each end or at the spreaders, tie a line in the middle and throw the whole thing into the water. Bring the dinghy alongside, tie it to the mast and tow everything to your boat.
Once there, position it between the hulls, go on deck, lift each end and tie it down. Use more rubble sacks filled with sprayfoam as custom molded fenders against the underside of the deck and beams. If you want to also use the inner tubes as fenders, shrinkwrap them beforehand, otherwise they are going to mark the hull.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Chotu

What????

I ALREADY moved it with my pickup truck when I bought it. What the heck are you talking about with the driving stuff?

It cost me $4.50 or something to get the permit last time I moved it 100 miles with my truck.

I went by MANY local and state cops last time. I was legal so didn’t get stopped

Although I do appreciate the rest of your post, I’ve already done what you consider impossible . Thank you.


My st Pete rigger? No. They don’t think I can bring it on deck because I’ll have to “go off the coast because my boat is so wide” . They don’t have any contacts for trucking masts and couldn’t get my metal work together in what is now 6 weeks I’ve been anchored here waiting. So just no. That’s why I’m going elsewhere.

My new rigger is ready to build the cradle Monday/Tuesday when he arrives for an inspection. I just don’t have materials or a place to do this. I’m out at anchor. My mast is at the old rigger.

Anyone in St Pete have any ideas on where i could do this? What marina? Here is the materials list:

@6 sheets of 3/4 ply, 20 pt 2x6, stainless screws, 10 long 2 inch ratchet straps and some scrap closed cell foam for padding decks and mast and we can probably make it work fine. It will take a solid day to make.”

I need to get these materials and a place to build them by Monday if so. We can build them, but I just don’t have a spot to do it.

Six sheets of 3/4" plywood? What in heaven's name are you building?

I moved Scorpius's 60 foot mast on deck with a 3' piece of 4x4 lashed across the bow pulpit, another on the pushpit, and two 2x4's bolted into an "X" (and padded) amidships. I moved the boat and mast up the length of Georgia Strait with that rig!

Design something simple, go to Home Depot or Lowes, get the wood cut, some screws and bolts, head out to the boat, and put it together there. You and your new rigger can make final adjustments as the crane lowers the mast to the deck.

[LoudMusic]

You're considering moving a 64' mast with your pickup truck but you don't have a vehicle to acquire lumber to build cradles?

What am I missing?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Rumpi

Chotu, WTF?!!! You have a friggin catamaran, why would you need cradles to transport a mast? Just lash it under the frigging deck and be done with it!

Uber to the hardware store, get some ratchet straps/cordage, a few reusable rubble sacks, two sturdy plastic bags, a roll of ducktape, one or two cans of expanding foam, some heavy duty shrink wrap. Also buy two truck or tractor inner tubes from a tire place.

Go to the yard with your dinghy, tape the plastic bags over the ends of the mast, tape up over any openings and fasteners then shrinkwrap the entire thing. Now take one rubble sack, loosely put it over the end of the mast, tie it down, make a hole and shoot some foam into the sack. Repeat for the other end and if you have spreaders repeat at their ends. Inflate the inner tubes, securely tie them to the mast about 7/8 from each end or at the spreaders, tie a line in the middle and throw the whole thing into the water. Bring the dinghy alongside, tie it to the mast and tow everything to your boat.
Once there, position it between the hulls, go on deck, lift each end and tie it down. Use more rubble sacks filled with sprayfoam as custom molded fenders against the underside of the deck and beams. If you want to also use the inner tubes as fenders, shrinkwrap them beforehand, otherwise they are going to mark the hull.

Good lord, we might just have a winner here!!!

I can’t see anything wrong with this idea and it’s much easier (and more safe) than any of the other ideas, including trucking it.

THIS is why I ask these questions. To see if there was an option I hadn’t considered.

I would just have to find ways to securely toe the mast and be sure it doesn’t cause any damage on the underside. I do have some engine control lines on the underside.

Also, do you think it needs shrink wrapping? Would some occasional salt water for a couple months destroy it or would it be fine?

Spreaders are off the mast so it’s just the pole and many sharp edges. Boom can come up on deck.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

You're considering moving a 64' mast with your pickup truck but you don't have a vehicle to acquire lumber to build cradles?

What am I missing?

Truck is hundreds of miles away with a TC in the bed. I’m here by boat. (Anyone see why I want to bring the motorcycle aboard yet? ) Cradle has to be built Monday if at all. But Rumpi came up with a better idea.

EXCEPT ONE VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL EVERYONE MISSED


My bridle and anchor rode will not work with all this crap hanging off the boat unless it’s way up high, or off the side of the boat as Rslifkin and I were last discussing.

The chain would drag and scrape along the mast as I pulled it in, scratching it and taking the paint off.

Sucks because carrying it under was the best one otherwise. It would keep the decks clear for single handed fuel docking, etc

Also, my davits wouldn’t work.

Actually…. I guess rumpi’s idea is no good for lots of reasons. Good in theory, but won’t work in reality.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Six sheets of 3/4" plywood? What in heaven's name are you building?

I moved Scorpius's 60 foot mast on deck with a 3' piece of 4x4 lashed across the bow pulpit, another on the pushpit, and two 2x4's bolted into an "X" (and padded) amidships. I moved the boat and mast up the length of Georgia Strait with that rig!

Design something simple, go to Home Depot or Lowes, get the wood cut, some screws and bolts, head out to the boat, and put it together there. You and your new rigger can make final adjustments as the crane lowers the mast to the deck.

The reason you didn’t have to build anything is because you have a pulpit and I push pit. I don’t have these things. I have to build these things.

Easy to picture on your own boat. Now picture a Catamaran.

That materials list was straight from the Rigger. So, not my design.

[Benz]

Call the guys at Newport Rigging Group on Monday--they're the guys from RigPro that once was, and they'll surely know everything about trucking masts and whom to have do it. I've travelled a lot with masts on the deck of various monohulls, and I'd rather truck if budget allowed.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Benz

Call the guys at Newport Rigging Group on Monday--they're the guys from RigPro that once was, and they'll surely know everything about trucking masts and whom to have do it. I've travelled a lot with masts on the deck of various monohulls, and I'd rather truck if budget allowed.

Thanks for the tip. I will give them a call Monday as well. I’m also going to call US spars down here.