Any reason to keep my mast/boom?

[nobles9596]

LOVE MY MASTGoogle Photos

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. CO. Used to boat with a group of fellow "stink-potters" and would claim "right-of-way" when I had the sail up. Sailboats have sails-right? No end of jocularity and merriment. It DID work as a steadying sail under certain conditions.

Mr. SK. Re: Your post #12....

 

[sjnssn]

Thinking about removing my mast and boom. The only thing mounted to it is my anchor light, spreader lights and some kind of round antennae that is not in use.

Thinking about either not have a mast at all or a much shorter mast that wouldn't have all the wire stays running on the upper deck. Maybe have the standard base mount and another solid mount around the mast to connect it to upper deck/aft house area.

If I did shorten it by about 5 feet that would keep my air draft to around 15 feet and if I did need to lower it it would not cut my aft deck in half. I'd still have good visibility on my anchor light.

I plan on adding davits on the stern someday so would not necessarily need the boom.

But I dunno......

What is your emergency overboard recovery plan?? Mast with 3:1 pulley to boom then end of boom to person in the water makes it possible for a 12 year old girl to hoist a wet adult out of the water and swing them onto the deck. Be prepared for the worst case scenario by giving it some serious thought!

 

[SIBERNUT]

Did an arch. May put stub mast on top for light

 

[CharlieO.]

Interesting this thread come back alive. I still have my mast and shorten it a couple feet, but no longer have the boom as it snapped one day when I messing around lowering and raising it in preparation for a trip on the NYS canals. I'd still like to do solid mount for the mast and get rid of the guy wires.

 

[SteveK]

What is your emergency overboard recovery plan?? Mast with 3:1 pulley to boom then end of boom to person in the water makes it possible for a 12 year old girl to hoist a wet adult out of the water and swing them onto the deck. Be prepared for the worst case scenario by giving it some serious thought!

Nice thought, in theory.

 

[dhays]

Nice thought, in theory.

It is a thread drift but I think it is well worth thinking about. The PO of my boat had a 4:1 block and tackle (it was a typical rig for a hefty boom vang with a very long line) that was permanently attached on the upper boat deck rail and left ready to deploy. They were an older couple and the husband had balance issues. It was a great idea and would have worked well. However, when I acquired the boat, the line and blocks had suffered from the weather so would have not been as effective.

Still, I respect their idea but just haven't come up with anything better yet.

 

[SteveK]

Dave, it is a good thought and only a good thought that can make you feel warm and fuzzy. It is false expectations.
In our waters the first few minutes matter. If you cannot get out on your own power using the boat ladder, how will the line be attached to you in order to use the device?
Most of us are mom and pop operators, one in water, one on board. In my case if the admiral falls in she has a chance I will get her out. If I fall in and cannot climb out, end of story. Reality.

 

[CaptTom]

...would claim "right-of-way" when I had the sail up. Sailboats have sails-right?...

On a trip once, we noticed that every day, when away from a busy harbor, every sailing vessel we saw was motoring under bare poles.

One day in the fog a VTS controller saw us on AIS and hailed us as "Sailing Vessel..." Presumably an assumption based on our size and speed.

It got me thinking. Yeah, we have a mast and boom which could theoretically carry a sail, and we motor everywhere. Just like the rest of them. Maybe I should start using "SV" when hailing, too. It became a bit of a running joke on that transit.

 

[dhays]

Dave, it is a good thought and only a good thought that can make you feel warm and fuzzy. It is false expectations.
In our waters the first few minutes matter. If you cannot get out on your own power using the boat ladder, how will the line be attached to you in order to use the device?
Most of us are mom and pop operators, one in water, one on board. In my case if the admiral falls in she has a chance I will get her out. If I fall in and cannot climb out, end of story. Reality.

Yup. We have a Lifesling that is easily deployed. I can use it to get my wife to the boat. That is the immediate problem. By the time that has occurred, she would not be able to climb aboard the boat with the swim ladder. I can easily use the crane and Lifesling to get her up on the boat.

As you said, if I go in the water I'm in trouble. She may be able to retrieve me with the Lifesling. We still need to work on her boat handling skills. However, unless I'm wearing a PFD when I go into the water, I'm going to be fish food because it will simply take her too long. If I was wearing my PFD and she was able to get a line to me and get me back to the boat, by that time the cold water would likely have gotten me to the point where I would not be able to climb the ladder. That is the situation where that simple block and tackle would be helpful. The PO had it positioned so all they had to do was release the quick-release shackle and it would drop to the level of the water surface. Getting it attached to my PFD or the Lifesling would be the next step, but then using the tackle to bet me up out of the water would be relatively simple.

Definitely need to do more drills and get my wife to do more boat handling.

 

[SteveK]

Definitely need to do more drills and get my wife to do more boat handling.

I had previously suggested, with a couple strong guys in a dingy standing by, jump in and give it a trial.
When I was younger I came across a swimmer caught in a current, exhausted, but laying on her back asking for help. Launched dingy and pulled her in. I thought about it afterwards and could not come up with a retrieval from the mothership as she was limp from cold.
Another time, SAR sent us out to look for calls for help at 3am. It was expected to be a hoax, but we went, found three heads above water holding one lifejacket. None of them could climb a ladder but we were three and could haul them out onto the swim grid.
I suppose this explains why I hesitate to support the topic, at least in these waters.