Mast Lowering Advice

[thompsontwins]

Hi All,
I've never liked heights, and I'm now too old to be climbing masts. Can someone in the know advise me step by step on how to lower my tabernacle stepped mast on my LM24 please? Is it too much of a faff? I wanted the marina staff to sort some stuff at the masthead, but they're too busy.
I guess I will need an A frame, can you advise what dimensions it will need to be?
Thanks
Paul

[tonyp]

There is quite a bit of advice in "mast lowering procedure" which may help you. The equipment necessary will depend on what your rigging system is. On our 27 the cap shrouds are attached to tubular chainplates, the tubes of which come to the same height as the pivot point in the tabernacle. Thus an A frame isn't needed, but you need to guy the end of whatever you use as a "gin pole" to the top of these chainplate tubes to prevent the gin pole from "capsizing" when it takes the strain. I've raised and lowered the mast done a few times now and it's not too difficult, though it still gives me a dry mouth when I unhook the forestay and rely on the tackle!
Tony

[Sula]

It is quite a faff, and also nerve wracking, as Tony says.

It might be better to bite the bullet and wait for the boatyard, or pay them to remove and refit the mast (which would also require a wait presumably). Or find some lightweight and fearless urchin (or a rigger) to haul up the mast and do the job up there for you.

In any case, when going or sending someone up the mast, make sure you have confidence in the condition of your halyards, cleats, winches safety harness, bosun's chair etc.; use a safety back-up line kept under tension, in case the primary line you are using to lift someone up fails or is let go by accident; have sorted out how the lines will run and that whoever is winching or tensioning the safety line knows what they are doing, and communication signals are agreed and understood. Lots of advice on line about this operation.

I am no expert, but having wrestled with the problem offer the following comments/suggestions.

If you are raising or lowering the mast yourself it is absolutely essential to ensure that the mast cannot swing laterally while you are raising or lowering it, otherwise this will damage the tabernacle/mast foot and maybe cabin top or mast. An arrangement such as Tony describes to secure temporary shrouds at points above the side deck in line with the mast pivot on the tabernacle (or mast foot for those without a tabernacle) is the normal arrangement. Typically this is four long metal bars (or tubes) with holes near each end, two on each side, one from the aft lower chainplate, one from the forward lower chainplate, meeting at a point in line fore-and-aft and vertically in line with the pivot on the mast foot/tabernacle, to which temporary shrouds are edited. For boats that do this regularly the relevant shroud has a join (e.g. hard eyes) in it just above the 'in-line' point, so it can be used shorter for raising and lowering the mast, then full length in normal use., (I once kept the mast in line sideways (not on an LM) by having temporary shrouds fixed to the (not in line) chainplates kept under tension, and therefore the right length and same both sides all the time, by the same line that was pulling the mast forward to raise it. It worked, but given the additional potential points of failure, and my uncertainty how it would work in practice, having never heard of anyone doing this, added to the stress!)

You need some sort of cradle (gallows?) or other means of supporting the top part of the mast when the foot is in the tabernacle but the mast is down before you lift it, or after you lower it, or if you have have to lower it again for some reason part way through the operation, or, heaven forfend, if you drop it part way through the operation. (Even if this is just enough helpers, but ideally some sort of temporary cradle.) I don't think you'd want to rest the mast on the top of the wheelhouse while the mast was in the tabernacle, let alone drop it on it, for fear of causing damage to wheelhouse or mast.

Lifting the mast by hand when it is near horizontal and you can reach near the 'top' of it from the deck is easy, it also takes very little force to push it this way and that once it is near vertical. It is the bit in between that requires significant force and is hard to apply by hand from the deck, and that is the challenge. You can get a lot of forward force from a block and tackle - I used my mainsheet tackle, temporarily fixed to the forestay chainplate in the bow, and attached to a line to the mast. The problem is that until the mast is about 45 degrees or more to the horizontal, any block and tackle isn't doing much lifting, so you usually need an A frame, gin pole or some other contrivance to apply that force at a more useful angle to the mast.

I do wonder whether on an LM the relatively modest size and weight of the mast and the ability to stand on the wheelhouse might possibly allow a few helpers to lift the mast through the entire raise without the need for either an A frame or a gin pole (see below), but don't know. I can imagine it might perhaps be possible for one or two people on the wheelhouse to lift the mast to near 45 degrees, and then with the help of a block and tackle from the bow, get it vertical. I don't know, but might be worth a try.

Assuming that isn't being attempted - As Tony says you can use a gin pole affixed to front of the mast, and somehow prevented from 'capsizing' to one side or the other, to hull themas up. Note that, unlike the mast itself, this doesn't have to be anchored exactly in line with the mast pivot. I secured the gin pole (in my case a spinnaker pole attached to the spinnaker pole fitting on the front to the mast) to chain plates (not in line). It could fall to one side or the other of the centreline but only by a few inches. Once I started raising the mast the gin pole fell slightly to one side and stayed there.

An A-frame makes life easier (but you'll still need to ensure the mast can't sway at all sideways). Typically boats that have them permanently fitted (e.g. on the Broads and other places where they need to regularly raise and lower the mast to get under bridges) have A frames secured on the side decks in line with the mast foot/tabernacle, and reaching to the inside of the boats bow. This type of A frame pivots for and aft on hinges on the side decks, and usually has a line between the top of the A frame and the mast, and a block and tackle between the A frame and the boat fitting. Alternatively, one could have a temporary A frame which doesn't hinge, perhaps in timber, held in place somewhere between vertical or 45 towards the boat (ensuring space for the mast to stand vertically) by ropes, and with the block and tackle between mast and A frame.

Before you lift the mast ensure you have all the right shrouds/stays fitted in the correct positions on the mast, not tangled, cross-trees at the correct angle, and bottle-screws and chainplate fittings ready. Fit the backstay before lifting, a little slacker than normal - once the mast is near vertical you will be able to push the mast forward by hand against this and the temporary shrouds to hold it in position. Get the forestay ready to attach to its fitting in the bow, once the mast is vertical you will want to fit this a.s.a.p.. and will likely need to first remove the lifting block and tackle you have used to raise the mast. You don't need the shrouds and stays tight initially, and you will need, as I mentioned, a little slack in the backstay in order to fit the forestay to its fitting. Assuming you've used an arrangement as described above to hold the mast sideways, fit and roughly tighten the cap shrouds to hold the mast laterally, and then you can remove the temporary shrouds and the 'in-line' metal bars, so you can fit the fore and aft lowers. Once you've got all 8 stays fitted loosely, you can then tighten them as per the LM guide which can be found elsewhere on this forum.

Hope that helps you decide, or to do that task. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

[thompsontwins]

Thank you both for the prompt replies. I don't fancy the stress of lowering the mast and the possible damage consequences after reading your advice. Appears too much can go wrong.

I've climbed as far as the steaming light with a well strapped down ladder before, but that's as far as I am comfortable going.

It looks like I will have to find a Rigger.