Mitch, I took a couple steps to get a little more angle for when the mast is nearly all the way down. I have about a 6" piece of chain I keep attached to an eye bolt on the front, top of my trailer crutch. I flip the chain over the top of the crutch and attach my main sheet block to it. I then attach the top block to the jib sheet, which remains cleated at all times. Note for extra strength I attach to the halyard eye, not the shackle. I then use a sheet bend to attach an extra length of line. This is needed because it takes the entire length of my main sheet to lower it and I need the line to run back to the cockpit. I then pull it tight to take the tension off the front stay and until I'm ready, I tie the sheet off on the front pulpit in case it become uncleated. I have a furled head sail which is very heavy so I us a loose 2-3' bungie to hang it off the jib sheet, then it floats all the way down without getting in the way or scratching the boat. It works just as well going up. I suggest bungie it before pulling the pin. I then untie the sheet and pan out a couple feet at a time while I push the mast over until it will starts lowering on it's own weight. I then go the cockpit and lower it the rest by letting the sheet out and I basically just guide it into the back crutch. It actually doesn't require much effort at all holding the line. A kid could handle the line, if you trust them. That said it is a little tricky because you are panning the line out through you single hand while guiding the mast. If I hold the line too high it will cleat off on the block. In which case I need to take some of the weight of the mast and whip the sheet so it uncleats. Note, I also raised the transom crutch to have the extra angle. Actually I moved it up as part of moving it back so the spreaders don't hit the crutch. Going up I reverse everything but I do left it a few feet before taking the load on the main sheet. Regards, Ron McNeil Jackpot - M17 - #675 On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 6:42 PM, Mitch Carnes <mitch_carnes@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Mboaters; I too use a 4-1 mounted from trailer forward crutch to jib halyard. I also use the sheet winch, bu tdo not crank, just pull and secure. I have found I must de-tension my side stays to get past the "hump" of my mast as the aft bottom curve is not ground down quite enough. A side note: I also fabricated a 1x 10 inch poplar board that sits between companionway threshhold and the aft vee berth bulkhead. That way I can walk the mast down by backing down this plank and onto the cockpit seats. (They are nearly the same height), then step onto the cockpit floor. It also doubles as a table at the dock and can be slid port or starboard as needed. Fair winds. Mitch M-17 656 ________________________________ From: Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com> To: M BoatsForum <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 4:50 PM Subject: M_Boats: Mast lowering Gary H, Gary O, Howard and Bill, Thanks to you all for your quick and thoughtful responses. I sure love this forum. All the best minds in the M-boat community ready and willing to help. I feel much better about attacking the problem. Gary H, what is the significance of the furler for attaching the tackle to the forestay rather than the jib halyard? I have a CDI furler, but thought it would be easier to take the strain on the jib halyard to ease unpinning the forestay. Bill and Howard, do you think the 4:1 is overkill? It seemed to me that there's a lot of tension as the mast comes down. Is the 1:1 attached at the stemhead really easy to handle? Without the added height of attaching to the trailer support? Gary O, I used to drop the mast manually, but stood on the cockpit seats, moving aft as the mast came down. I somehow can't picture lowering it from the cabin top. Do you stand in front of the mast? Thanks again, guys, Rick M17 # 633 Lynne L On Wednesday, May 21, 2014, Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jdavies104@gmail.com');>> wrote:
Hi all,
I'm trying to figure out a simple (meaning without a gin pole) way to lower the mast on my M17 single-handed without having to walk it down the hard way in the cockpit. I thought of attaching one end of the main sheet to the front mast support on the trailer and the other end to the jib halyard. I think someone on the forum described something like this quite a while ago, but I can't find it. I plan on using a line tied around the mast as high as I can reach and secured to the chainplates on each side for lateral support. I'd plan to lower the mast until I can reach it easily from the cockpit, then lower it the rest of the way by hand, so the tension in the support line doesn't get too big as the mast approaches horizontal. Has anyone tried anything like this? Hate it find out it doesn't work the hard way.
Thanks,
Rick M17 #633 Lynne L