Transiting with mast down?

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mikeandrebecca
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Transiting with mast down?

Post by mikeandrebecca »

The next addition in my never-ending series of questions...

We will need to unstep our mast to transit the Erie Canal system next year. I assume someone here must have done something like this before. Does anyone have any pics of how they carried the mast on a 32 while traveling with it down?

Thanks in advance,

Mike
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by Allezcat »

Mike,

We unstepped the mast at Castleton on the Hudson (a do-it-yourself gin pole) with no problems and made a triangular support on the bow using 2X4's. The rear of the mast sat on the port side stern pulpit and the boom was tied to the stanchions (inside). This worked okay but was still a pain because the front of the mast projected past the bow and the butt projected out the rear. This made it necessary to be very careful manuevering in the locks! Also, the mast restricted our ability to disembark on that side. This was on a 36 and I assume the same would be true for a 32. I would also recommend you mount a whip on your sternrail and connect to your vhf. Handhelds are low power and seem to run out of power when you need them most. If I were to do the canals again, I would have Hoppanos (near Castleton) unstep the mast and store it in their yard and restep it on return.

Hope you are doing the Trent-Severn. It is a wonderful canal system.

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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by mikeandrebecca »

Thanks for the post Chet. Our trip through the canals will be one way, heading south, so storing the mast won't be an option. If the mast stuck out fore and aft on a 36 I would assume it would do so even more on our boat. I just made a post on our Blog about this question and the trip:

http://www.zerotocruising.com/?p=2762

My plan is to have something sorted that I can test out at home in the spring when it comes time to re-step our mast. This way we'll know how it will work once we set off.
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by phild »

See photo - removing the mast is a terrible thing to do to a sailboat but the trip is a wonderful experience be sure to check the erie canal web site on a regular basis the locks have a tendency to go out of service from time to time! Maintenance funding is not what it could be! We dropped the mast in Oswego, NY and refitted at the Hop O Nose marina in Catskill, NY - they've got a collection of old wooden support frames of every size and shape!
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by mikeandrebecca »

Thanks Phil!
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by MagicDragon »

Mike & Rebecca - we own a 36' LRC and when bringing her home last year, we were able to carry our mast on the port side, strapped to each pulpit front and rear, with the boom disconnected and lying across the bow behind the tramp. It did stick out a bit front and back but we did not find this extra length to be unmanageable. We developed the tendency to dock always using the starboard side - that's where we mounted the biggest fenders and the two board to protect the fenders from the sides of the locks - they are REALLY YUCKY! If you have more questions about this trip, you can call me to ask 440-773-6413. There's more info (along with some pics and a daily journey log of the trip) on our website. www.magicdragonpdq.com

One more thing - in hindsight, the Erie Canal part of our journey home was some of the nicest scenery, the most wonderful friendly people, free electricity and water at almost every dock stop - I wish we had taken more time. This was towards the end of our trip, and we were so eager to get home, we rushed our trip. I won't make that mistake again - the journey is the whole point....
http://www.MagicDragonPDQ.com
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by mikeandrebecca »

Thanks very much for the post and the offer of help! I have been to your website on several occasions but will go back and do some more reading on that trip. We, too, have heard that the Erie Canal is a great part of the trip, which is why we plan to leave Kingston early enough to take our time and enjoy ourselves along the way.
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Re: Transiting with mast down?

Post by mikeandrebecca »

We are 2/3 of the way through the Oswego/Erie canals and our mast hasn't fallen off yet so I thought I would share how we have it rigged in case anyone else would be going through a similar process. The following is a direct copy and paste from our blog post:

http://www.zerotocruising.com/?p=6092

Yes, it’s true. After removing our mast in Oswego, NY yesterday, prior to beginning our journey south through the NY State canal system, we now have a motor boat!

As I have mentioned here on numerous occasions, how we would safely carry our mast during this part of our journey was a source of great concern for me. After all, dropping the mast in the water, or on deck for that matter, would be a huge problem (read HUGE $$$$). Here is ultimately what we ended up doing, greatly inspired by the catamaran Windsong which spent only a single night at our marina a few weeks ago.

The first decision was where to carry the mast: in the center on top of the bimini or on the side on one of the hulls. Because of our rig, we opted for the center option so that we wouldn’t have to remove the spreaders.

After making this decision, we then constructed “gallows” out of plywood, sandwiching 2×4s together in a shape that would not only hold the mast but also allow a vertical 2×4 “pole” to slide into a slot. We made 3 of these: one for the bow, one for the stern and one for the mast step. The gallows had enough play in them to allow some foam to be inserted to protect the mast (Note: The first attempt at building them did not have enough room for even the mast. We had to trim them in a band saw to add more space).

Image

These gallows only get a 1-way trip on our boat.
We’ll be leaving them wherever we put our mast back up.

Rather than using a sawhorse-type arrangement where additional wood would be used to provide lateral support, we instead used line. Lots of line. Brand new red 3/8″ line as a matter of fact. Just as the guy lines on a tent keep the poles vertical, we used lines to each hull, cinched down with trucker’s hitches to hold the mast stable. In addition to side to side stability, we also needed to ensure that the mast couldn’t move fore and aft. More lines were used for this, much like spring lines on a boat.

Image

You can see the boom, and battens, lashed together on the port hull. We used a couple of red PFDs and a large cockpit cushion for padding. The mast is also resting on a pad on a strong section of the hard bimini.

A chiseled-out 2×4 was fit into the base of the mast to support the roller-furling forestay. All the bits and pieces were lashed together and the end result is pretty stable. Truthfully, that is an understatement. I think it is very stable, although I’ll give you my final verdict after we make it across Lake Oneida (Lake Oneida is known for sometimes being particularly rough)!

Image

That red car-wash mitt fit perfectly on the 2×4.

Although Bernie, who ran the crane at the Oswego Marina laughed at us, we tied our big orange fender ball to the tip of the mast. We also fit a bright red car-wash glove over the 2×4 in the other end of the mast. The purpose of these items was not to protect the mast but rather to make anyone helping us with lines SEE the mast as it projects out away from the boat. Because it doesn’t have the mass of the boat, I have heard that many people don’t focus on the mast and thus aren’t ready to protect it, or themselves as it moves towards them.

Image

On the wall in Fulton, NY where we stopped for our first night in the canals.

So, that’s it. Fingers are crossed that it stays in place long enough to get us through the canals. If you choose to use a similar method, I hope it works for you too.

Follow-up that was not in the blog post: After getting "waked" by a couple of large power boats, we came to the conclusion that it wasn't stable enough fore and aft. The Trucker's hitches weren't cutting it. So, to stop it from moving forward I attached snatch blocks to the chainplates and with identical lines tied around the mast at the spreaders, I led them back through these blocks to the primary winches. To stop it from moving aft I connected another loop of line around the mast at the spreaders and led this to the jib sheet which was still rigged. By winching these three lines in tight the mast now doesn't move AT ALL (knock on wood).
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