pbryant
01-03-2011, 06:19 PM
I recently acquired Ariel #75 (Jubilee). The masthead was stripped bare: no antenna, anchor light, or even windex. Just some bare wire ends waving forlornly at the wind.
The mast is tabernacled, and the boom is rigged with an extra long mainsheet. I got quotes from riggers for the cost to install a $75 antenna (at least 5 times the cost of the antenna). The unknown conditions of the blocks at the masthead make an ascent via bosun chair potentially riskier than my 500 parachute jumps (I'm not afraid of heights - just sudden stops). Catch 22: I can't inspect the blocks without going up there to see them. And Murphy's Law says the block won't fail until I get all the way to the top, leaving a Wily Coyote silhouette of myself in the cabin roof.
So the fact the mast is tabernacled is becoming very appealing. The Harbormaster has offered the use of their 65 foot guest dock so I can work on the dock, but... I know nothing of how to safely lower and raise the mast.
The previous owner has two small and insubstantial rings attached to shroud lines, and he gave me a 10 second description of raising and lowering the mast while mentioning something about their use with preventers to keep the boom stable, but I still have visions of the mast getting away from me, breaking the foot loose from the cabin top and lancing through the cockpit (and me), or my inability for any reason to raise the mast - resulting in my renting a 65 foot slip while I tie up the boat by its masthead. The fact that the mast foot is attached to the step by only one bolt, a few very loose washers apparently for spacing, and a nylon locked nut - all of which look suspiciously like they were bought at Home Depot, don't add to my confidence.
Can anyone offer some advice to an owner made timid by all these unknowns?
The mast is tabernacled, and the boom is rigged with an extra long mainsheet. I got quotes from riggers for the cost to install a $75 antenna (at least 5 times the cost of the antenna). The unknown conditions of the blocks at the masthead make an ascent via bosun chair potentially riskier than my 500 parachute jumps (I'm not afraid of heights - just sudden stops). Catch 22: I can't inspect the blocks without going up there to see them. And Murphy's Law says the block won't fail until I get all the way to the top, leaving a Wily Coyote silhouette of myself in the cabin roof.
So the fact the mast is tabernacled is becoming very appealing. The Harbormaster has offered the use of their 65 foot guest dock so I can work on the dock, but... I know nothing of how to safely lower and raise the mast.
The previous owner has two small and insubstantial rings attached to shroud lines, and he gave me a 10 second description of raising and lowering the mast while mentioning something about their use with preventers to keep the boom stable, but I still have visions of the mast getting away from me, breaking the foot loose from the cabin top and lancing through the cockpit (and me), or my inability for any reason to raise the mast - resulting in my renting a 65 foot slip while I tie up the boat by its masthead. The fact that the mast foot is attached to the step by only one bolt, a few very loose washers apparently for spacing, and a nylon locked nut - all of which look suspiciously like they were bought at Home Depot, don't add to my confidence.
Can anyone offer some advice to an owner made timid by all these unknowns?