Gin pole question

[BravoVita]

Planning to lower my mast this week with a gin pole/a frame. Wondering at what point in the lifting angle will the most pressure be on the frame. Any simple frame photos or advice is welcome.

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by BravoVita

Planning to lower my mast this week with a gin pole/a frame. Wondering at what point in the lifting angle will the most pressure be on the frame. Any simple frame photos or advice is welcome.

On my boat it was about 45 degrees to full down
The thing to remember is that up and down is not the real issue
Rig a block and tackle, I used 4 to 1
The real issue is controlling side to side motion
You must keep the mast in plum just a little sway and it becomes
Magnitudes of order to controll
The shrouds will support sideways motion for a bit but
Once they go slack you have to have some way of stabilizing the
Mast sideways. A frame to blocks on the toe rail or bridles.
Plenty of youtube videos to study,
Watch a bunch and figure out what works for you
Cheers

[BravoVita]

Originally Posted by Time2Go

On my boat it was about 45 degrees to full down
The thing to remember is that up and down is not the real issue
Rig a block and tackle, I used 4 to 1
The real issue is controlling side to side motion
You must keep the mast in plum just a little sway and it becomes
Magnitudes of order to controll
The shrouds will support sideways motion for a bit but
Once they go slack you have to have some way of stabilizing the
Mast sideways. A frame to blocks on the toe rail or bridles.
Plenty of youtube videos to study,
Watch a bunch and figure out what works for you
Cheers

4 to 1? Thanks for the advice on the side motion. I will plan for that (plenty of hands and winches. Any weight i should plan for on the main lowering winch rope? It's a 33 foot aluminum mast.

[Time2Go]

I used 4 to 1 because that's what I had lying around.
Overkill for sure, and I was using pick up guys.
If you have enough people you could just use the main halyard.
Cleat it off on the mast, pull it way forward and have a team walk it back to the
boat as the mast comes down. Build some form of a cradle for the top of the mast to land on. Lower in one smooth motion, try not to stop in the middle.
Cheers

[capt-couillon]

Did it last year with my 30' stick.... Spooky but do-able. I used a pair of "cross bucks" for a set of scaffolding as the pole legs disassembled and bolted together at the top. Fortunate for me that my boat has a tabernacle (hinge) at the base and a set of pad eyes on the cabin trunk just for this purpose. Drawing below of one setup (not mine). Ran the main halyard down and shackled to the ginpole, then a long set of tackle to the forward chain plate to control lowering.

If you don't have a tabernacle make darn sure the base of the mast is secured fore and aft as well as port an stbd to keep it from kicking out as the stick is lowered. Lowering is easier than raising, and needs be on a calm day with no boat traffic. Critical angle is starts about 45 degrees, but at that point a couple guys can get their hands on the stick and help take the load. Longer you can make the poles the better. Mine were only about 7' (what I had available) and while they worked, 9-10 ft would have been better.

Depending on your rigs configuration, shrouds may not be long enough to fully lower the mast so best to let them loose just before lowering. While I lowered my stick with one other guy, and raised with 2 others, it would have been better to have at least 4 extra sets of hands. 2 to control the shrouds and two to help pick up the weight at the critical angle. A thirty foot stick only weighs a 150# or so, but it's a long lever and can get away from you. Make sure everybody involved knows exactly what the plan is, and what their part is.

Not as hard as I thought, but not something I want to do every day.

[BravoVita]

Can I use the fiddle block from my traveler? Any recommendations on the line i should use for the lowering?

[puffcard]

Just watch a guy drop the mast of a Coronado 25 twice in one day. He stopped after damaging the boat next to him. I use to have a Hobie 33 that was set up with a tabernacle and strouds that maintain their length through the raising process. That was a piece of cake. There are a lot of loads and things can get out of wack very quickly. Be careful.