We've sailed Solara with giant kites all summer. It's been a hoot. Now we're going to put a new (to us) mast on it. We'll rig it so we can use either kites or sails.
Episode 13 - how perfect? We're all scared to death about this task.
Many thanks to Pete, Gus, Victor, Kenny, Joanna, Effie, and everyone else who helped -
you should all be collaborators on this instructable if you aren't already. please add photos and add/edit the text.
continues the Free Yacht saga
Here's the table of contents of the whole thing:
Chapter 1: How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 2: Maiden Voyage of the Free Yacht
Chapter 3: Fix Broken Stix and other Trix
Chapter 4: Outboard Motor Mutilates Foot
Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on Fire.
Chapter 6: How To Give Away a Free Yacht
Chapter 7: Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.
Chapter 8: Celebrate Freedom
Chapter 9: Technicolor Dreamboat
Chapter 10: Privateer Knot
Chapter 11: Dismasted!
Chapter 12: Kiteboat!
Chapter 13: Mast Raising
photo note: This first photo is mirrored so the "featured" banner won't obscure the mast it in case this ible gets featured.
Episode 13 - how perfect? We're all scared to death about this task.
Many thanks to Pete, Gus, Victor, Kenny, Joanna, Effie, and everyone else who helped -
you should all be collaborators on this instructable if you aren't already. please add photos and add/edit the text.
continues the Free Yacht saga
Here's the table of contents of the whole thing:
Chapter 1: How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 2: Maiden Voyage of the Free Yacht
Chapter 3: Fix Broken Stix and other Trix
Chapter 4: Outboard Motor Mutilates Foot
Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on Fire.
Chapter 6: How To Give Away a Free Yacht
Chapter 7: Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.
Chapter 8: Celebrate Freedom
Chapter 9: Technicolor Dreamboat
Chapter 10: Privateer Knot
Chapter 11: Dismasted!
Chapter 12: Kiteboat!
Chapter 13: Mast Raising
photo note: This first photo is mirrored so the "featured" banner won't obscure the mast it in case this ible gets featured.
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Signing UpStep 1: Dig For Hardware and Pre Rig
Here's the hinged pivoting step for the mast. I thought we'd have to make one from scratch, but digging in the junkpile, there was a gizmo that had some of the the parts we needed.. all of them.. In fact, we could actually just use it... because oh yeah, it must have come off this mast and is the missing part. Big relief - but what do I do with all this caffeine and gumption in my bloodstream? Proceed, I guess.
I went to the chandlery to buy some hardware to connect them to the mast. That last photo is how the three stays connect to the rotating mast on a hobie 18. What we have is a scaled-up version of that.
Victor measured Solara, I measured the mast and the boat it came off of. I dug through the pile of rigging to find three stainless cables that were about right.
We've been collecting gear for the re-masting ever since the night the old one fell. Most important is the excellent mast itself, a gift from a friend. Our dock neighbor Alex gave us a nice pile of stainless cables.
Fiday night Victor, Kenny, Brie, Gus, Rebecca and I got together to prepare stuff. We burned scrapwood in Mr.Fireface and had a good time. Trigonometry ensued. What length of cables would we need? Victor and Kenny waterjetted chainplates.
I went to the chandlery to buy some hardware to connect them to the mast. That last photo is how the three stays connect to the rotating mast on a hobie 18. What we have is a scaled-up version of that.
Victor measured Solara, I measured the mast and the boat it came off of. I dug through the pile of rigging to find three stainless cables that were about right.
We've been collecting gear for the re-masting ever since the night the old one fell. Most important is the excellent mast itself, a gift from a friend. Our dock neighbor Alex gave us a nice pile of stainless cables.
Fiday night Victor, Kenny, Brie, Gus, Rebecca and I got together to prepare stuff. We burned scrapwood in Mr.Fireface and had a good time. Trigonometry ensued. What length of cables would we need? Victor and Kenny waterjetted chainplates.
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I have been meaning to get my last build up on here for ages, a folding plywood boat with hinges made of cable ties and sealed with duct tape and rubble sacks.......
Boats make us do daft things, look forward to the next installment!
1) how much is the mast's weight : it seems very light as compared to the boat's size. Is it a little bit too fragile … or undersized ?
2) What material did you use to treat the new mast step to be efficient in less tan a day (as I understand) ? Fast curing epoxy ?… I suppose of course that the wood was in good condition…
3) Why did you have the crew support the mast at the risk of a slippery handling causing bad injuries to the people below ?… Instead why didn't you use the principle of the tabernacle which works quite effectively with the English. The foot of the mast is set between two flanges that support a pivot that slide into the mast ; a boom or any other spar is set vertically at 2 to 3 foot over the pivot therefore at right angle with the (still) lying mast. The boom keeps the relative position to the mast by two halyards tied to the side of the boat at the same level and on the same plane as the tabernacle so that when moving the whole triangle will remain the same. The main's halyard goes from the top of the mast to the top of the boom then though a (strong !) block at the fore end of the boat which leads it to a winch. With precaution and a safe hand on the winch you can slowly raise the mast to its vertical position with crew handling tight (or giving some slack, depending on the situation) long halyards by the side of the boat or even from the shore (or pontoon / catway) or even from other boats, thus lessening the risk of injury if anything wrong happens. When it happens, it happens fast !… I saw one mast being raised wrongly collapse on 2 other boats with the end result of 3 masts to be repaired 2 weeks before the season started !!!… Owners of the two other boats were not so happy, so were the insurers !!!…
Try to find back issues from Practical Boat Owner : 10 years or so ago they were excellent in giving these tips !…
Your method worked ok, so who am I to put the blame on an obvious success ?But I'm afraid it could be more secured for the next time…
Bon voyage for your next plans : please tell us ! …
Petty soon I'll try fix my boat (and my bad heart condition !…) to make at least a small trip along the Normandy coast this summer. This limitation makes me think more of you !…
Be safe, be happy.
PS. Sorry for my broken english … its pretty bad when I try to explain something practical as I feel I lack the proper and specific technical vocabulary (it someone has any idea posting an instructable on this matter will be more than welcomed !! … LOL)
If you ever need (or choose to) change the mast again, you may consider balanced lug sails. They can be done very low budget and the mast can be unstepped so there is no compression force applied to the deck and virtually no stress to the hull. You don't require expensive stainless steel cables and hardware either. They have been used successfully for 1000s of years, long before bermudan sails were ever conceived.
Yo ho happy sailing! (and enjoy that bottle of rum)
If avoidance of adventure is what this class brings... I'm not so sold :p
(I really hope you've caught the sarcasm, but just in case, that was me being explicit).
Look at the fool hanging by one hand from the spreaders. Look at the pilings by his left foot. Think about falling on that piling from a mast or the two ladders tied together. Can you imagine living through that? How long will it take the rescue squad to arrive, cut it off and take you to the hospital. Take x-rays and decide the course of action before rendering you unconscious to remove it. Then you have to heal. All the time and pain.
sailing can be a safe sport or a deadly one. There is no fine gray line between the two. It only takes one mistake or a second of inattentiveness to kill you.
I wouldn't even get on this boat with these people, much less leave the dock with them.
These Instructables inspired my brother and I to procure our own 27' free yacht last July. It's taken 10 months of weekends doing woodwork, learning diesel repair and figuring out rigging, but we're finally launching this weekend.
And somehow in all the parts trading we got into with the locals, we ended up trading a dead Westerbeke inboard for a working British Seagull as our backup/dinghy propulsion.
We've had a great time. Thanks for your articles, and I hope you'll write more.
I've owned two motorless sail boats and have had to remast both of them.
the first I took the mast down to trailer it, put it in the water, punted out, anchored went to sleep (it had been a long day). in the morning it was 25 knots. I had no way to move the boat, and couldn't row to shore in my tiny inflatable.
this was with a 20 foot mast. it was too heavy to raise without a mechanical advantage. I made a stub-mast crane with the boom. using spare rope and trucker's-hitches for guy-wires. Then, tied the foot of the mast to the mast-step and put the jib halyard over the crane. using two ratchet-strap tie downs to guide the mast i winched the jib halyard until the mast was back up.
the other time, I brought a boat that had dis-masted at it's mooring in a storm. this time I rowed some bamboo over to make a tripod and just winch the mast up.
the kite sailboat looked good. why did you choose to go back to the masted sailing?
We went back to using a big stick to hold the kite I mean sail up because in light/nonexistent winds it's easier. Also variety is the spice of life.
I bet there are a lot of free yachts and like-minded captains in Australia!
tim
p.s.
how about starting a grass tree farm? I get really impressed with what the aborigines did with grass tree resin. Modern technology hasn't produced anything like it. Make a spear by gluing a pointy rock to the end of a stick? There's nothing like it. And now I hear the grass trees are endangered.
Yes that question was a joke. It may have something to do with China's ability to outwork us as well.
Think about adding a length of mast underneath the deck down to a "plate on the floor".
Sail Load on the mast will put a BIG download on the mast step.
When we drilled the hole we got to see what a thick area of deck it is and that the wood underneath isn't rotted.
This is to avoid spoiling your whole day by the mast plunging thru the deck.
Re the rest of it---
Please PLEAASE Mr. Skipper--- NEVER put the mainsheet down on a multihull.
Keep hold of the mainsheet even when (ESPECIALLY WHEN) cleated
Head off in really big puffs, not up.
Signed A-class cat multihull racer (I've sailed em all).