Administrator
posted 24 March 2002 12:08 PM
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We had some correspondence on the topic of raising and lowering the mast at the end of last season and since it’s once again the season of strains and ruptures, I thought I’d describe the set up that I saw last weekend on Ghostbuster. I didn’t have a camera, but I’ll do my best to describe it.
The Ghostbuster crew have built a strong A-frame from two lengths of wood fastened together at their upper ends. The lower ends of these wooden beams are lashed securely to the gunwale, slightly forrard of the mast step. The top of the beams, where they join, is about as high as a crew member can reach while standing on deck near the mast step and a block is lashed to the beams at this point. The whole assembly is held in a vertical plane by a strong rope leading fore and aft from the stern of the boat to the apex of the ‘A’ and on to the bow.
Apparently, what happens is that another rope is tied around the mast about ten foot from the heel and led around the block on the A-frame to a winch. You grind-away and up she goes. Since the A-frame is slightly forrard of the mast step, the mast can go all the way up and the frame and rope can be removed after all is secure.
I didn’t see the thing in action but the Ghostbuster crew tell me that it works like a charm and it’s probably easier to set up than it is to describe.
Jack Hardie