Planning to Drop the Mast - Cal25

[cmartin]

I think I have the rig setup to drop the mast. The fittings are doused with penetrating oil and the boom is off. I hope this project is a free weeks, not months, so I want to figure out the details before I get the mast down.

I disconnected the masthead wiring under the mast beam but I'm not sure about the VHF antenna wiring. Unless there is a connector above deck, hidden in the mast, it appears there is one cable running from the radio to the masthead antenna.

The ends of the cable are larger than the routing hole in the bulkhead. Is it common to run a cable then assemble the ends?

If one cable is run, and I am dropping the mast, should I just cut the existing cable and figure it out later?

I sail on the Chesapeake and to date have used my cell phone, not having a working radio hasnt been a big deal so far. For my application is a handheld sufficient or should I install a proper fixed radio? I like having redundancy, but I'm not sure if the fixed radio is really needed. Handheld sounds a lot simpler, something I really like on a boat.

One thing I'm not sure about is the antenna. If I need to purchase a new antenna and cable, what's the best affordable option? Shopping the normal sources there appear to be a ton of options, most seem to be for power boats or for offshore use.

If I go with a new fixed antenna, what is the best method to pass the cables through the deck? The current setup has leaked and I'm sure contributed to the failed mast beam.

A lot of questions, I know. Thanks for the advice!

Chris

[bcooke]

it appears there is one cable running from the radio to the masthead antenna.

Yes. That's the coaxial cable. It is made up of a conducting wire in the center and a braided shield around it.

Is it common to run a cable then assemble the ends?

Sadly, yes.

For my application is a handheld sufficient or should I install a proper fixed radio?

Probably yes. A fixed radio give marginally better performance. If you have been happy with the handheld then I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you don't have a fixed radio then you don't have to worry about running an antenna and cable to the masthead either.

If I need to purchase a new antenna and cable, what's the best affordable option?

Surprisingly, the cheapest usually. I think I paid $30 for my simple whip antenna. I don't have time to link a photo but if you look for the cheapest kind then you will probably find it. You have a mast which significantly increases the performance over most power boat installations. And if you stick with a handheld you can forget the antenna altogether.

If I go with a new fixed antenna, what is the best method to pass the cables through the deck?

The best method I have seen comes from this forum. Two pieces of stanchion fittings (45 degree I think) connected with a piece of hose between them. One fitting goes on the mast, the other on the deck. The wires of course run through the hose. With the hose clamped in place it is a very dry installation. The 1 inch stanchion fittings are plenty big enough for most mast wiring bundles.

[Hirilondë]

I find it hard to believe that there is no connection for the VHF antennae in the same area as the other wiring, but anything is possible. Maybe there is on above deck inside the mast, that is where all mine are, but why you would have connections in 2 different places is beyond me. I also have an access into the base of the mast to do the connection before unstepping and after stepping. If you can't locate a connection before beginning the removal of your mast and you don't find one during, you will have no choice but to cut it. Try to figure out a way to salvage either the in boat or mast portion when deciding where to cut it. You can add the connections before restepping, but may very well find that you don't have enough wire to install the connectors and have enough slack to make the connection during the next and later steppings of the mast.

Hand held VHFs are great. They do not however have the range of a hard wired one with an antennae way the heck up in the air. VHF is line of sight, so the higher the antennae, the greater the range. Whether you really need one is a matter of opinion.

The ends of the cable are larger than the routing hole in the bulkhead. Is it common to run a cable then assemble the ends?

Absolutely, it means you can end up with a much neater look if the hole is exposed. But that doesn't apply when you need to remove the wire on a semi-regular basis, like to unstep a mast. Then it would seem to me to be pretty stupid.

[cmartin]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I heard from a Cal guy that at least some boats have a connection just above the deck in the mast. Time will tell I guess.

I'll try to dig up the stanchion setup, that sounds pretty slick.

[Peter]

If one cable is run, and I am dropping the mast, should I just cut the existing cable and figure it out later?

"The fewer connections you have on your VHF coax the better. Ideally, one at the mast head and one at the radio." This was the advice I was given by the radio shop where I purchased my antenna, a Shakespeare "Squatty Body" 3' whip, with RG-8X coaxial cable.

My antenna wire comes down inside the deck-stepped mast, through the cabin top, and into the hollow mast support beam, where there is a small access door to connect the mast lights with a 'Euro' block. I left enough cable that if/when the mast comes down again I'll have enough slack to snip the coax and add a connector.

Meanwhile I have one less connection to corrode :-) Works for me!

If I go with a new fixed antenna, what is the best method to pass the cables through the deck?

My mast step is a hollow oval tube, about 3" high and bolted to the deck, that fits into the base of the mast. There's a 2" hole in the cabin top, in the middle of the step, where the wiring runs through. I glued a short piece of 1 1/2" PVC tubing into this hole, allowing it to stand about 2" above the deck. (Sorry, no pictures). I bought a plastic funnel that fits (upside down) over the PVC tube, and ran the wires through it into the cabin. A little Sikaflex around the wires at the small end of the funnel, and place the wide part over the PVC tube, has kept all water out of the cabin.

Make sure the drain hole at the base of the mast is clear so water does not build up inside.

I used a Davis VHF Windex to keep masthead clutter to a minimum ... works great.
Hope this helps...

[Oscar]

A handheld will not get you the Coast Guard on every part of the Chesapeake. Not only is the "line of sight" shorter, the wattage of the hand held is less.

The Chesapeake is a serious piece of water. Especially when you get further South there are some pretty big pieces of water. On poor weather days or at night you can be unseen for a long time if you get into trouble. The cell also does not always have coverage....

Sooooo, if it was me and you do go to the more remote corners and you do not have a 406 EPIRB I would get a nice fresh VHF with DSC, an MMSI # and a nice clean run of coax to the top of the mast. AND, I would keep my handheld around. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Redundancy is a good thing.

[cmartin]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I constructed the an a-frame from 2x4's, rigged it to the hull and down came the stick.

Frame rigged



Mast coming down



There was a connector for the radio antenna stuffed in the mast, everything came apart without issue.

This setup worked very well and provided a safe method to drop the mast. I couldnt have done it without the help of a good friend, but nothing facny was required.

Now for new rigging, new deck beam, halyards..... :)

[Rachel]

Neat! Thanks for the photos, and I hope we can follow along on your upcoming projects.

Rachel

[Zach]

Cmartin,

Cool looking rig! Do you have any larger pictures?

Do I have it right that your A frame is tied from the top aft, and that the mast is tied up at the spreaders? Did you rig a pulley on the A frame?

Care to describe the process a bit?

Thanks a lot! (I'm needing to pull mine to redo my bulwarks... all the boat yards are full around here.)

Zach

[Clint]

I would love to have some more detailed explanation on how you rigged the a-frame and then lowered the mast.

[cmartin]

I'm the first to admit I copied the system presented on the Alberg30 site, http://www.alberg30.org/maintenance/Spa ... ppingMast/ .

Here is a large shot of the mast coming down, http://muvvachicken.com/images/cal25/dr ... N0711R.jpg . If you want more photo's let me know.

I attached a line to the front and rear, attaching them pretty snug with old halyards to cleats on the deck. I cut the feet at an angle and tried to wedge them between the chain plates and a lip/edge in the deck. Once erected I lashed the A-frame legs to lifeline stanchions to help them from kicking out. I'm not sure it was really needed, but the more stable the better.

I think the alberg description is dead on, here are a few things off of the top of my head:

-some one recommended I use 'strut' rather than 2x4's. I found some at McMaster Carr, and it looks like nice stuff. More $$, maybe stronger and lots of potential use in the future. I liked 2x4's since they are cheap and I can always find a use for them.

- The plan was to set the frame feet on deck, raise the back by hand then use the front line off a winch to raise it completely. In my case the back stay was in the way, something I didnt think of before hand. It wasnt a big deal, we were able to lift the frame at an angle from the side. This was the most difficult part of the job, although not really hard. This is the only time a 3rd person could really have been used.

-I went to Home Depot and checked the sailing catalogs for a pulley setup to raise lower the mast. Then I realized I had the mainsheet tackle that basically was the same thing. I'm not sure of the actual load capacity, but my mast isnt that heavy and the load on mainsheet gear are pretty high. In my case it worked fine. I ran a loop snugly around the mast up to the spreaders used that as the lift point.

-I was nervous about the electric connections at the mast, luckily everything came apart simply for me. If you attempt this, make sure you identify what wires are in the mast and how they will be disconnected. I had wire cutters read just in case.

-I ran the lifting line from the pulley to a primary winch in the cockpit. This worked very well, I was able to control the line completely. A helper guided the base of the mast aft as I eased the line.

-If you attempt this, be careful! I cant promise this will work for you or even that it's a great idea. Use good line, tie good knots and use some common sense.

[Peter]

Good job, cmartin! I use a similar rig to get the Albin Vega mast down, made from 1 3/4" tubular galvanized fence railing, split into two sections to make transport easy. Probably overkill on the tubing size, but better to be safe in case someone with a bigger boat borrows the rig.

With a couple of cleats in the right places the job can be done single-handed. Going up is just as easy.

Hey, that's an Albin Vega in the foreground of the first picture!

Edited to note: This method should work on any boat, even with a keel-stepped mast. The "A" frame would have to be that much higher to get the butt end out through the cabin top.
Also, which side of the "A" frame you put the mast (fore or aft) depends on the boat and the way you want to drop it ... ooops, I mean lower it. If you want to walk the butt end aft the "A" needs to be behind the mast, and ahead of the mast to lower the butt forward.

[Clint]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Now I understand how you did it.

[rshowarth]

I thought some might be interested in the Gin Pole a friend constructed for raising and lowering his keel stepped mast in his new Ensign (Ensign Spars, not Pearson).

He constructed a gin pole (I hope I have the correct word) from a used Lightning mast. Again, the Ensign mast is keel stepped. On the pole itself, he installed a block at the top and ran a forward stay and two side stays. He purchased a bulk roll of wire cable and we used fittings attached with pressure U bolts to the ends of the cable to attach the forestay and the side stays to the chainplates. The Ensign has a forward chainplate for lowers, a middle chainplate for the uppers and aft chainplates for a second set of lowers. We attached the side stays from the Lightning mast to the aft lower chainplates. We trusted this would give enough aft-ward (Is this a word?) tension to keep the gin pole straight during the rasing and lowering process.

The gin pole was mounted into a "mast-step" box which was placed on the deck just forward of the Ensign mast. It is a box with a hole in the top for the Gin Pole, then to a molded mast pole base at the bottom of the box that fits about 2 inches into the base of the Lightning mast. The box itself is approximately 6 - 7 inches high. That deck mast step box was secured to a forward cleat, two side lines to the trailer and two lines to aft cleats to ensure the mast step for the gin pole did not move.

Finally the gin pole "halyard", run to the top of the Lightning mast, was secured around the Ensign mast and run up to the spreaders. The gin pole halyard was then run down to the blocks used for the Ensign main halyard and to a cam cleat, or winch if necessary. The winch was not needed. The Ensign stays were released and it was very easy to raise the mast up through the deck and then lower the Ensign Mast.

I apologize for having forgotten my camera. Essentially we installed a deck stepped mast in front of the keel stepped mast.

I thought we could have used Spectra or similar high capacity-low stretch line instead of the cable.

[Zach]

Cmartin,

Thanks for the larger picture and explanation!

[One Way David]

I did a lot of searching on the gin pole idea. Then I found a better idea (to me). Use an extension ladder. I use a 32' ladder, tie off with about 1-11/2feel forward tilt to cleats on the stern. You could anchor the ladder feet to the chain plates if your worried about slip. It has rubber clad feet that automatically adjust to the angle of tilt and deck. One could make guy wires out of any hardware store stock. You have to get the block up above the spreaders by the amount you have to lift the base of the mast to clear the deck. I would caution one to be careful about the balance point. My Ensign mast is slightly top heavy. Its easily controlled with one hand if you know to watch for it. I think the idea came from Sailing Texas site. Dave.